Hypersonics Flight Demonstration program (HyFly), page 1

The Hypersonics Flight Demonstration program (HyFly) National Aerospace Initiative will develop and demonstrate advanced technologies for hypersonic flight. Flight-testing will be initiated as early in the program as possible and progress from relatively simple and low-risk tests through the demonstration of an increasingly more difficult set of objectives. Technical challenges include the scramjet propulsion system, lightweight, high-temperature materials for both aerodynamic and propulsion structures, and guidance and control in the hypersonic flight regime....

.... The ultimate goals of the program are to demonstrate a vehicle range of 600 nautical miles with a block speed of 4,400 feet per sec, maximum sustainable cruise speed in excess of Mach 6, and the ability to deploy a simulated or surrogate submunition....

.... The Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) successfully conducted the first ground test of a full-scale, fully integrated hypersonic cruise missile engine using conventional liquid hydrocarbon fuel on May 30, 2002. The test, performed in a wind tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., demonstrated robust operation of the engine at simulated hypersonic cruise conditions (Mach 6.5 at 90,000 feet altitude).

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