UCF launches Hyperspace Center, pioneering the future of hypersonic travel

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Published  October 23, 2024 7:06pm EDT
FOX 35 Orlando
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UCF launches Hyperspace Center

Breaking the boundaries of speed and space, Wednesday marked the historic launch of the University of Central Florida’s new Hyperspace Center, a game-changing hub set to fuel the future of hypersonic travel.

ORLANDO, Fla. - "It’s unbelievable. That’s the biggest takeaway. It’s something you never thought you’d be able to do and never thought you’d get to see happen. And then you get to see it, and then you get to be a part of it, so it’s just incredible," said UCF graduate research assistant Rachel Hytovick.

Breaking the boundaries of speed and space, Wednesday marked the historic launch of the University of Central Florida’s new Hyperspace Center, a game-changing hub set to fuel the future of hypersonic travel.

"It’s kind of crazy to think one lab was able to get a building and separate into this massive project, still maintain our lab, but expand everything we do into a huge building we get to fill with science and experiments," Hytovick said.

The Hyperspace Center will advance technology that fuels hypersonic travel at speeds up to 13,000 miles per hour. It’s a way to enhance national defense and open up new frontiers in space exploration.

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"It would be like going from here to Beijing in two hours or from here to Europe in an hour, so it’s basically making us get around the planet at speeds we would never have been able to fathom otherwise," Hytovick said.

With a strong partnership with the U.S. Air Force, this is a mission that’s been years in the making.

"We’ve been working on it for six years. We had the Eureka moment in 2021 when we were able to stabilize this intense 100X energy release mechanism known as a detonation," said Kareem Ahmed, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UCF.

Where Mach speeds meet limitless horizons, the Hyperspace Center promises to reshape our journey through the skies, where the impossible is just a flight away.

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