The 14-X is a Brazilian

scramjet A scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) is a variant of a ramjet airbreathing jet engine in which combustion takes place in supersonic airflow. As in ramjets, a scramjet relies on high vehicle speed to compress the incoming air forcefully ...

engine in development by the Aerothermodynamics and Hypersonics Laboratory Henry T. Nagamatsu of the Institute of Advanced Studies (IEAv) of the

Department of Aerospace Science and Technology The Brazilian Department of Science and Aerospace Technology ( pt, Departamento de Ciência e Tecnologia Aeroespacial; DCTA) is the national military research center for aviation and space flight. It is subordinated to the Brazilian Air Force (FA ...

as part of the ''PropHiper'' (Portuguese: ''Projeto de Propulsão Hipersônica 14-X''). The name is a reference to the

14-bis The ''14-bis'' (french: Quatorze-bis), (), also known as ("bird of prey" in French), was a pioneer era, canard-style biplane designed and built by Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont. In 1906, near Paris, the ''14-bis'' made a m ...

, of the Brazilian inventor and aviation pioneer

Alberto Santos-Dumont Alberto Santos-Dumont ( Palmira, 20 July 1873 — Guarujá, 23 July 1932) was a Brazilian aeronaut, sportsman, inventor, and one of the few people to have contributed significantly to the early development of both lighter-than-air and heavie ...

. The Brazilian Air Force conducted the first qualification test flight of the 14-X engine on 14 December 2021 from the

Alcântara Space Center The Alcântara Space Center ( pt, Centro Espacial de Alcântara, CEA), former known as ''Alcântara Launch Center'' ( pt, Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara,) is a space center and launching facility of the Brazilian Space Agency in the city ...

Development

Brazil conducts studies in the field of aspirated hypersonics since 1990s, but an development plan was conceived only in 2007, through the ''PropHiper'' project, made official by the Air Force in 2008, when the engineer-captain of the Brazilian Air Force, Tiago Cavalcanti Rolim, started a master's degree at the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA) and was approved with a thesis on the waverider configuration. The development of the project started with an experimental model by the Institute for Advanced Studies in the same year. Testing of the hypersonic engine started in October 2009.

Project details

14-X S On 2 December 2021, the Air Force's

(DCTA) announced the beginning of ''Cruzeiro Operation'' seeking to conduct the first flight of the 14-X. The flight date was kept confidential. The first test flight of the 14-X scramjet engine took place at the Alcantara Space Center, using a

Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle The HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic speed flight. It is being developed as a carrier vehicle for hypersonic and long-range cruise missiles, and will have multiple civilian applications including the launching ...

named 14-X S . The vehicle was placed at an altitude of about 30 km by a VSB-30 booster before 14-X activation, which saw the vehicle reach an

apogee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any el ...

of 160 km and was monitored by the tracking station of the

Barreira do Inferno Launch Center The Barreira do Inferno Launch Center ( pt, Centro de Lançamento da Barreira do Inferno; CLBI, ) is a rocket launch base of the Brazilian Space Agency. It was created in 1965, and is located near Ponta Negra beach, near Natal, the capital o ...

Rio Grande do Norte Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", re ...

as it traversed a distance of roughly 200 km before dropping into a safe spot in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. Development of the 14-X project involves the building of four hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicles, each with its own demonstrational objectives: *

14-XS 14-XS was an ''Operação Cruzeiro'' mission conducted at the Alcantara Launch Center on December 14, 2021. Mission Conducted by the Brazilian Air Force, the flight was a test to demonstrate the scramjet technology. The device was launched by a H ...

: ballistic ascending flight with supersonic combustion; *14-XSP: ballistic ascending flight with aspirated hypersonic propulsion; *14-XW: Demonstration of

glided Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is al ...

flight, without propulsion, of a controllable and maneuverable hypersonic vehicle with guidance, navigation and control systems during hypersonic stratospheric flight; *14-XWP: autonomous flight of a controllable and maneuverable vehicle with active aspirated hypersonic propulsion.

Purpose

The technology is considered by Brazil as one of the most efficient means of accessing space in the near future, and could be used to place satellites in orbit and make suborbital flights. It can also be used in other areas such as the development of

intercontinental ballistic missiles An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...

with a more potent rocket or in

civil aviation Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, both private and commercial. Most of the countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and work ...

Operation history

A list with conducted operations of the 14-X:

References

{{reflist

External links