ZHUKOVSKY, Moscow Region, August 14 (AVN) - The local Gromov flight research institute and the Central Aircraft Engine Building Institute are exhibiting the full-size mock-up of the GLL-VK hyper-speed flying laboratory at the MAKS 2001 aerospace show, Gromov leading engineer Sergei Pernitsky said on Tuesday.
The laboratory is intended for flight research into key problems of hyper-speed flight, Pernitsky told the Military News Agency. It is powered by the experimental hyper-speed ramjet.
The laboratory's conceptual design is completed, and development of technical documentation is underway. The Gromov institute is making models for the laboratory's wind-tunnel tests and designing on-board systems.
The aircraft's length is 8m, weight 2,200kg, Mach number six to 14, and altitude of research 20 to 100km.
The laboratory is placed at the altitude of about 150km by the Rokot booster rocket that is being designed by the Khrunichev space centre. There it separates from the booster and enters an experimental section of the flight, where the hyper-speed ramjet is switched on. After the flight programme is completed braking starts and the laboratory lands on the ground or water with the help of a parachute. Application of the plane landing scheme is being considered.
According to Pernitsky, it will take at least three years to make a fully operational laboratory. The test programme envisages six to eight flights. In addition to the Gromov institute and Central Aircraft Engine Building Institute, the project involves the Parachute Making R&D Institute and several other Russian companies. Specialists say that the engine that will be installed in the laboratory will have the thrust of 1,200kg. The engine, which is being tested at present, is exhibited at MAKS 2001 too.
Works in the same sphere are in progress in the United States, which develops the H-43 or Hyper programme, Germany, Japan, etc. The cost of the Russian project is not yet disclosed, but the United States is planning to invest USD180m in the similar programme, that envisages four test flights. Russian specialists say that implementation of their programme will cost less.