Researchers are all too familiar with the huge costs, high risks and frustratingly slow pace of high-speed flight testing, not to mention the scarcity of opportunities. Now a Colorado-based team is developing a small supersonic UAV (below) for low-risk testing at a fraction of the cost of existing systems. Dubbed the Gojett (graduate organization jet engine technology team), the ambitious project is aimed at breaking the supersonic test paradigm and filling part of the void left by retirement of reusable flying testbeds like the legendary X-15. The development stems from work begun three years ago—which later grew to include a supersonic vehicle—at the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder to develop improved small turbojets. The project has now morphed into a bid to build the world's fastest small UAV, and is being carried forward by Starkey Aerospace Corp. (Starcor), a new company set up to transfer the technology out of CU for commercialization. Starcor was recently incubated by eSpace, a joint venture between the university and Sierra Nevada's Space Systems Group.
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