Fellow Queenslander, Hypersonix has also signed an agreement with Kratos to launch the DART AE multi-mission hypersonic drone technology demonstrator next year in a demonstrator flight.

The Kratos booster system will accelerate the DART AE drone to a speed greater than Mach 5 and release the vehicle.  Ignition of the drone scramjet engine would then occur followed by an autonomous flight of DART AE to a programmed flight path to a predetermined landing location.

The flight will increase the readiness of the Spartan scramjet engine.

In Valiant’s plan, it will team up with Skycraft to facilitate the launch through its rideshare service.

Valiant chief executive Andrew Uscinski said the launch would build customer confidence in its satellite propulsion technology known as VS-1. It was recently awarded $200,000 by the Australian Space Agency as part of the Moon to Mars initiative while would allow the company to develop its VS-1 for the satellite market.

Final preparations for the flight were completed last week and the payload has been fitted to the Skycraft satellite which allowed for environmental testing.

Uscinski said the mission would mark the start of a campaign to build spacecraft heritage on Australia’s first in-space chemical thruster with additional missions being developed that will see more Valiant hardware in space by the end of the year.

Valiant’s system uses non-toxic propellants which it believed would make the use of its system safer as well as reduce logistical technologies.