AETC CONDUCTS FIRST FLIGHT TEST, LABELED A SUCCESS FOR MANUFACTURED CARBON PRODUCTS

American Energy Technologies Co. (AETC), working in close partnership with Pluto Aerospace, Inc., a West Lafayette, IN-based commercial hypersonic rocketry company, is happy to announce that it completed a successful solid rocket fuel flight in a high fidelity hypersonic testbed, known as Dash Block 1.  Based out of the Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette and with flights out of Mojave, California, Pluto Aerospace is a game-changer in the hypersonic speed aerial vehicle industry. Their current Dash Block 1 sounding rocket, capable of conducting high-speed flight testing, allows for rapid, iterative hypersonic testing without the overhead or long wait times of larger programs, offering flexibility which is critical for companies like AETC that need an accelerated timeline for testing, development and validation of products employed in hypersonic and supersonic technologies.

Pluto's Dash 1 Flight 002 solid fuel rocket with AETC functional graphene coatings onboard – drone photo

Launched 5/10/25 at 8:58am PT from the Mojave Test Site, Pluto's Dash 1 Flight 002 solid fuel rocket reached an altitude of 43,000 Feet at Mach 2.7, registering 33.7G overloads with the objective of simulating certain flight conditions comparable to peak performance of advanced fighter jet technology platforms. At the end of the flight test, the rocket descended on a parachute and was recovered 2.5 miles from the launch site. The rocket performed slightly better than expected, offering improvement in performance over the pre-flight simulator results. The May 10, 2025 flight carried AETC's graphene-based coatings on the outer fins of the vehicle. AETC’s coatings successfully survived the acceleration launch overloads, as well as the massive attrition heat and abrasion associated with the mission profile.

AETC’s Anna Doninger, Manager of Government Relations, was quoted: “American Energy Technologies Co. is very pleased about its skyrocketing collaboration with Pluto Aerospace Inc. Several advanced technologies of AETC, including advanced batteries, critical minerals-containing manufactured performance coatings, and structural ablative materials will be onboard upcoming flights as part of a Dash Block 1 sounding rocket capable of conducting high-speed, high-fidelity flight demonstrations. We just had our first full TRL9 flight having taken place near Mojave, California on 5/10/25. Our next high-speed test flight is tentatively scheduled to commence in August 2025. The upcoming flight test’s payload, again out of Mojave Test Site, will include AETC’s ablative nozzle inserts, lithium batteries containing AETC’s manufactured carbon materials, coatings, and nose cone enhancement technologies, all of which are produced at AETC’s Illinois manufacturing plant. We look forward to the upcoming flight and we, alongside our vendors in the supply chain, are busily preparing for it.”

Pluto's Dash 1 Flight 002 solid fuel rocket with AETC functional graphene coatings onboard – launch photos

Founder of Pluto Aerospace, Christopher Nilsen, said, “Right now, getting anything to fly to raise the TRL of a particular product involves a huge budget and long wait times, which many small businesses simply don’t have the runway for. I hear it from people all the time: ‘We’d love to prove our technology, but we can’t afford to wait three or four years to get on an actual flight.’ So we at Pluto Airspace know that our Dash technology platform is the right answer because it doesn’t exist anywhere else. We’re proud to be that bridge.”

Pluto Aerospace Inc.’s news releases referencing the aforementioned flight can be found here and here.