Dawn Aerospace to Go Supersonic

Dawn Aerospace has been given permission by CAA to fly their Aurora Mk II rocket powered sub orbital aircraft at supersonic speeds in New Zealand airspace up to a height of 80.000 feet as in this from their website:

Christchurch, New Zealand – 12th July, 2024 – Dawn Aerospace, proudly announces that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has awarded it a certificate to fly the Mk-II Aurora at unlimited speeds, including supersonic, up to 80,000 feet altitude. This certification permits operations beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) without the need for restricted airspace.

The Mk-II Aurora is a rocket-powered aircraft, designed to be the first vehicle ever to fly to 100 km altitude, the edge of space, twice in a single day. It is rapidly reusable and low cost, making it well suited for a variety of applications in microgravity, high speed flight research, earth observation, as well as other defence and civil uses.

The Dawn Aurora Mk II has been conducting test flights from Glentanner Airstrip beside Lake Pukaki since April 2023 with their latest flight on 24 July reaching Mach 0.92 and 50,000 feet.  Apparently it is designed to fly faster than a SR 71 and climb faster than an F 15!

Here is a video of a recent flight:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0sJZbVcdRw&t=20s

That's mighty impressive!