Italian startup FAST Aerospace Srl is proud to announce that Galaxia, National Tech Transfer Fund in Aerospace by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Venture Capital (CDP VC), supports the HyperDart program with a Proof of Concept (PoC) investment of €500,000.
FAST Aerospace was founded in March 2024 by five young engineers from Politecnico di Milano, with the mission of providing Italy and Europe with a new bridge to space for satellites: HyperDart. This proprietary launch system, the first air-launcher entirely developed by a private Italian company, will allow cargo to be flown into space taking off from already existing airports, cutting down launch costs and drastically increasing the space access flexibility, something that is of great interest for satellite manufacturers nowadays, who are struggling with long queues and high fees.
HyperDart is composed of a remotely piloted aircraft, comparable in size to a Panavia Tornado, which carries on its back a rocket containing the satellite. The aircraft boosts and then deploys the rocket at the edge of space at a speed of Mach 5, five times that of sound, using less fuel compared to vertical rockets and being almost fully reusable, making space access a more sustainable market in the near future.
Lorenzo Beggio, Co-founder and CEO of FAST Aerospace, states that "To reach such high speeds, HyperDart will mount a ramjet, one of the key technologies of our launcher. Thanks to this investment, we are starting the design and build of a scaled-down version of the full-size engine that we will use. This type of propulsor requires specific and extreme conditions to be ignited" – he explains – “obtainable only through a dedicated test bench, that we are already designing". The purpose of this prototype is to demonstrate the company's capability to design, build, and test its technology, considering that the average age of the team is 24 years old.
FAST Aerospace and Galaxia will collaborate for one year, with the ultimate goal of igniting the engine prototype by the end of 2025. The design phase will be followed by construction and testing phases, which will require an expansion of the company's workforce. For this reason, FAST Aerospace will soon launch a recruitment campaign for full-time engineers who will have the opportunity to contribute to the building of the ramjet prototype.
"We are extremely grateful and honored to have Galaxia supporting us in this exciting project" says the CEO. "This is the first step to give Italy an independent and dependable launch system that can take off from the European continent and reach space without relying on foreign launchers. This investment testifies to the growing interest in hypersonic technology, which will allow the build of the next generation of launchers, more capable and sustainable than today’s rockets”. The goal is very ambitious, and, as Beggio explains, "we have already started fundraising for the next investment round, which will allow FAST to build its first medium-sized drones". The company is ready and has what it takes to make HyperDart fly by the end of the decade!
Source: FAST Aerospace
