Vaya Space, a privately owned company, achieved a significant milestone in defense technology with successful demonstrations of a revolutionary tactical missile class vortex-hybrid engine. The breakthrough tests, witnessed by representatives from Army Futures Command, NASA, and the Prime Contractor Community, took place at Vaya’s Engine Test Facility on the Space Coast in Cocoa, Florida.
The recent tests, numbered nine and 10 in a planned series of 30, focused on assessing the engine’s capability to start, stop, and relight while operating within the performance parameters of a Hellfire missile engine. Vaya’s vortex-hybrid engines signify a paradigm shift in missile propulsion technology, providing a truly insensitive propulsion system that offers unprecedented range, maneuverability, survivability, and scalability.
Kevin Lowdermilk, CEO of Vaya Space, expressed pride in the achievement, stating, “Vaya Space is thrilled to unveil the incredible potential of our vortex-hybrid engine. From the initial collaboration with Army Futures Command, our team successfully designed, developed, built, and tested a Hellfire-class vortex-hybrid engine in less than six months — an extraordinary accomplishment. We are excited to begin work on larger surface-to-surface missile applications, where the benefits of the increased range of our engines can be maximized.”
General Robert “Abe” Abrams (ret.), an advisor to Vaya Space and an attendee of the demonstrations commented, “Implementation of Vaya’s technologies has the potential to bring a completely new and much needed capability for strategic and tactical missiles which can provide our forces with decisive overmatch now and well into the future.”