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Destinus

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Destinus
IndustryAerospace
FoundedMarch 2021; 3 years ago (2021-03)
FoundersMikhail Kokorich
Headquarters
Payerne
,
Switzerland
Number of employees
40–120
Websitedestinus.ch

Destinus is a private aerospace company headquartered in Payerne, Fribourg, Switzerland. Destinus is an aerospace, defense, and energy solutions company, around supersonic and hypersonic aeronautics, hydrogen technologies, and advanced aviation and power turbines. They are supporters of NewSpace, a movement in the aerospace industry that aims to increase access to space through innovative technological advances that result in lower launch costs and reduced regulations and logistical constraints associated with dependence on national space agencies.[1][2][3]

History

The company was founded in 2021 by serial entrepreneur Mikhail Kokorich. In 2011, Kokorich founded Russia's first private space company, Dauria.[4] He used[when?] his fortune to support the Russian opposition and joined Mikhail Khodorkovsky's Open Russia movement. Then Putin's government did not take it well: the authorities accused Dauria of financial irregularities, and eventually, the company had to be shut down.[5][6][7]

Because of mounting pressure, Kokorich immigrated to the United States in 2014. In California, he founded other space companies: Astro Digital, which analyzes and distributes satellite data; its main customer was the U.S. Department of Defense, and Momentus, a satellite shuttle to move them between different orbits, with a revolutionary propulsion system based solely on water and sunlight. Momentus raised more than $100 million in venture capital, and the company was valued at $4 billion. But tensions with Russia escalated under the Trump administration; Kokorich, as founder, CEO, and majority shareholder of companies important to national security, came under pressure from authorities. Permission to launch was denied, the SEC securities regulator took legal action, and he eventually had to sell his shares at a token price.[8][9][10]

So in early 2021, Kokorich decided to leave the US and move to Europe, where he founded Destinus.[11]

In 2022 the company raised 26.8 million Swiss francs ($29 million) for its campaign to offer supersonic hydrogen flights.[12][13]

In June 2022 Destinus and Spanish engine manufacturer ITP Aero agreed to jointly develop a hydrogen engine test bed and demonstrate their hydrogen combustion research with the direct support and cooperation of Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA). The program agency of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico e Industrial, has chosen this project as a strategic initiative under its Plan de Tecnologías Aeronáuticas (PTA). The grant funds the construction of a test site near Madrid for air-breathing hydrogen engines, which Destinus will help design and carry out further tests. The second grant funds research into aspects of liquid hydrogen engines to test innovative propulsion solutions for future hydrogen-powered supersonic aircraft.[14] The total investment in the second grant project is 15 million euros.[15][16][17]

In February 2023 Destinus was awarded a grant from the Spanish government for hydrogen flight. The project has an overall investment of €12 million and involves companies and technology centers, as well as Spanish universities.[18][19][20]

In March 2023 Destinus unveiled a supersonic aircraft. This aircraft has a capsule shape. It is equipped with a hydrogen engine, which was developed by the Spanish company ITP Aero. Unlike traditional engines, which use combustible petroleum products, the hydrogen engine does not pollute the environment, since the only products of hydrogen combustion are water and heat. As it became known, the first tests were carried out at the end of 2022, which proved to be quite successful. The aircraft was able to reach a speed of Mach 5 in (about 6125 km/h), equivalent to the speed of a US Aegis air defense missile. For flights, the aircraft gradually climbs to an altitude of about 35 km above sea level, where it accelerates to its maximum speed and then gently descends to its destination. This plane was created to study the possibilities of supersonic flights in the future. But it is not known how the passengers' bodies will be able to tolerate such speeds, as it can be a strain on the human body.[21][22]

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See also

References

  1. ^ Hutchinson, Lee (30 November 2014). "Firefly Space Systems charges full-speed toward low Earth orbit". Retrieved 1 December 2014. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)
  2. ^ Tegler, Eric. "Swiss Hypersonic Startup Destinus Appears Destined For Same Path As U.S. Counterparts". Forbes. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  3. ^ "La escalada armamentística impulsa la era de los aviones hipersónicos y pone en jaque la seguridad". abc (in Spanish). 22 May 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  4. ^ InfoEspacial. "El primer satélite privado ruso, el DX-1, despegará el 19 de junio". Infoespacial (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Destinus: Warum Mikhail Kokorich ein Weltraum-Start-up aufbaut". Handelszeitung (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  6. ^ Méndez, Manuel Ángel (3 April 2022). "El genio ruso marginado por EEUU que sabe cómo derrotar a Putin: "Me quieren colgar"". elconfidencial.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  7. ^ "El Elon Musk ruso que irrita a Vladímir Putin probará su tecnología en España". abc (in Spanish). 22 May 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Space startup Momentus hires former U.S. defense official as CEO". Reuters. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  9. ^ ""Для этого нужно крылья иметь, а не погоны". Предприниматель Михаил Кокорич — об истории своего космического стартапа в США". The Bell (in Russian). 16 August 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Momentus CEO resigns amid U.S. government concerns". SpaceNews. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  11. ^ Tegler, Eric. "Swiss Hypersonic Startup Destinus Appears Destined For Same Path As U.S. Counterparts". Forbes. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  12. ^ Coldewey, Devin (9 February 2022). "Destinus plans to fly a hydrogen-powered, hypersonic cargo craft with $29M seed round". TechCrunch. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  13. ^ Werner, Debra (9 February 2022). "Destinus raises $29 million for hypersonic plane". SpaceNews. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  14. ^ Hurst, Luke (10 April 2023). "The hydrogen jet aiming to cut Europe to Australia flights to 4 hours". euronews. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  15. ^ "Из Европы в Австралию за 4 часа: гиперзвуковой самолет сократит время перелетов". euronews (in Russian). 29 March 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  16. ^ Ольга, Кротовська (10 April 2023). "Водневий надзвуковий літак Eiger: усе, що про нього відомо". Ми Україна (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  17. ^ "Destinus recauda $ 29 millones para el avión hipersónico: inteligencia de datos de Plato" (in Spanish). 9 February 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  18. ^ redactoramexico (25 March 2023). "Destinus Awarded 12M EurGrants from Spanish Government for Hydrogen Flight". Hydrogen Central. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  19. ^ H2-View (24 March 2023). "Destinus receives €12m investment to accelerate hydrogen-powered supersonic flight". H2 View. Retrieved 11 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ "Инженеры разрабатывают самолет на водороде: долетит из Европы до Австралии за 4 часа". ФОКУС (in Russian). 29 March 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  21. ^ Hurst, Luke (10 April 2023). "The hydrogen jet aiming to cut Europe to Australia flights to 4 hours". euronews. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  22. ^ "В Швейцарии показали сверхзвуковой самолёт на водороде, который за пять часов долетит до Австралии. Видео". strana.today (in Russian). Retrieved 11 April 2023.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Destinus&oldid=1153439940"