HIFiRE – Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation

HIFiRE – Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation – was an Australian-American hypersonic program. It aimed to explore the fundamental science of hypersonics and the potential for next generation aerospace systems. The flights through the atmosphere were performed at speeds above Mach 5.5, or more than five times the speed of sound. The program involved 10 flight experiments to further the fundamental scientific understanding of hypersonic flight, including related technologies in propulsion, combustion, materials, sensors, guidance and control. The knowledge gained from these test flights will be applied to test advanced air-breathing hypersonic propulsion engines, also called scramjets.