A New Zealand company flew back-to-back flights in a rocket-powered drone it hopes will be the vanguard of routine access to space. Dawn Aerospace's Mk-II Aurora flew two sorties to 63,000 feet and Mach 9.5 on Sept. 27 to demonstrate the quick turnaround of the aircraft. “Rapid reusability has been termed the ‘holy grail’ for rocket-powered systems,” said Stefan Powell, CEO of Dawn Aerospace. “This milestone shows that our fundamental concept will unlock never-before-seen performance and hypersonic flight in a platform suitable for everyday operations, not just one-off research and development.”
Based on a recent vist to the USAF museum and looking at the X-15 with evidence of a M5.0 run I kind of doubt this aircraft went 9.5m there is still paint on the AC where I would expect it to be burnt off. Just sayin YMMV.