Hypersonic powerplants.

[Blackfingers]

Scram jets,rockets,hybrids,all tech,all companies!
Lets list them all!
Ill start.
SPARTAN | Technology | Hypersonix Launch Systems

[Blackfingers]

Cheers guys.
Hypersonics is not a new thing as rocketry first started things off in the 1920,s.This is other than fireworks that use short range propellants.
Robert H Goddard used gasolene and liquid Oxygen as a liquid fuel to achieve 60mph at 41 feet but paved the way for modern rocket designs up into the 1940s as germany produced the V2 which hit up to 3,580mph or approx Mach 5.7 .
After WW2 and America continuing on with V2 and Rocket research until the 1960,s when the X15 hit a speed of Mach 6.7 for a period of 19 miles until the anhydrous hydroxide and liquid oxygen fuel gave out.
With major aerodynamic research happening during WW2 and into the 1950,s major Aircraft companies pushed the envelope for speed.Problems with high speed became apparent when it came to range and keeping things together for longer periods at lower altitudes where the air is thicker.With economics and technology projects stabilized at lower Mach numbers as a trade off between speed and range but still there was a need for higher speed.
Todays its more a niche market with specialized platforms being trialed and technology moving along slow but steady lines as companies forged ahead.
Today its weapon systems as they can be used as First strike or High speed recon platforms.Also is high speed transport of VIP,s or Troops and or equipment.
Now the tech and the materials have caught up and things are jelling with a few propulsion shops getting it right.But in the past there has been a long list of "pretty" renders,start up companies and paper planes. 
Lets see the major players now..
X-43A Hyper-X - NASA
Adelaidean -- Students launch scramjet at Woomera
China’s magnesium-powered scramjet breakthrough nearly doubles thrust at Mach 6
DRDO Successfully Tests Scramjet Engine for Over 1,000 Seconds For Hypersonic Missiles
This turboramjet engine could power the fastest aircraft in the world
GE Aerospace achieves breakthrough in hypersonic engine development | In depth | Flight Global

[Signal Witch]

Scram jets,rockets,hybrids,all tech,all companies!
Lets list them all!

Air breathing, reusable hypersonic efforts fall into three pillars:

the airframe integrators that shape and steer it...
the propulsion houses that push it...
the material and cooling specialists that keep it from turning into a fireball.

You can’t separate those three anymore. A vehicle lives or dies on how well those teams talk to each other.

Below are the top five in each category based on hardware in test, contracts, and facility investments.

 Airframe and system integrators

1. Lockheed Martin: ARRW booster separation and hypersonic burn confirmed by USAF in 2022
   
   
2. Northrop Grumman: Hypersonics Capability Center opened to build ramjet and scramjet hardware
   
   
3. Raytheon: Won the MoHAWC follow-on contract after HAWC flight demos
   
   
4. Boeing: X-51A Waverider prime, longest U.S. sustained scramjet flight
   
   
5. BAE Systems: Public hypersonic simulation and defensive modeling efforts
   
   

Engine and propulsion houses

1. Aerojet Rocketdyne: Large scramjet test article with 13,000 plus pounds thrust and more than an hour of cumulative hypersonic-condition combustion
   
   
2. GE Aerospace: Dual-mode ramjet rig with rotating detonation combustion, roughly triple the airflow of prior flight-tested demos
   
   
3. Pratt & Whitney: FAST-T heritage and combined-cycle research, Metacomet reusable program reporting
   
   
4. Hermeus: Chimera TBCC ground transition proven, Quarterhorse Mk-1 flew at Edwards in 2025 en route to Mk-3 TBCC flight
   
   
5. Ursa Major: DoD and AFRL backed engine work, repeated Draper firings, new defense production awards
   
   

Thermal, materials, cooling, structures

1. Hexcel: Carbon-carbon and high-temp composites for leading edges and aeroshells
   
   
2. C-CAT: DoD-funded expansion of carbon-carbon capacity for hypersonics
   
   
3. Reaction Engines: Pre-cooler validated at Mach 5 equivalent inlet conditions
   
   
4. Rolls-Royce: Ceramic matrix composites for extreme temperature components
   
   
5. ATI Specialty Materials: Hypersonic-grade titanium and advanced alloys, expanded aerospace supply
   
   * It bears mentioning Lockheed's Skunk Works' cryogenic facility that just went up at Plant 42 in Palmdale, but there is no open source data on the specifics of that program.
   

Right now the race isn’t just about speed, it’s about survival. The propulsion data is there, the fuels are ready, and several test rigs have already run past Mach 6. What limits progress isn’t thrust, it’s heat. Every program that matters is wrestling with how to keep a reusable system intact beyond a few minutes of hypersonic flight. That’s why the real breakthroughs are happening in active cooling loops, carbon-carbon structures, and adaptive materials that can live in that environment. Whoever closes that gap between thermal management and sustained power wins the next decade of flight.

[Zaphod58]

Thermal, materials, cooling, structures

1. Hexcel: Carbon-carbon and high-temp composites for leading edges and aeroshells
   

Interesting. There's a Hexcel facility I go by on the way home from work. I knew they did commercial stuff, but wasn't aware they were in the hypersonic game as well.

[Sky727]

The Doughnut ringed contrails which have been seen and filmed make me wonder what kind of ride that would make for? 

If I remember correctly they nearly lost another X-15 back in the day as the vertical stab was nearly completely burned away due to air friction and temp. 

One X-15 we did lose was piloted by Mike Adams who suffered an aircraft break up after 15 Gs vertical and 8 G lateral uncontrolled flight. Hopefully he was unconscious before the bird hit the dirt.

[Maxmars]

And... 40 years after he passed..., 

My father's prognosis was correct:

Material Sciences will offer most of the significant advances of the 21st Century.... 


Thanks Dad...  Sorry I scoffed at the idea...

[Zaphod58]

The Doughnut ringed contrails which have been seen and filmed make me wonder what kind of ride that would make for? 

Those donut ringed contrails were atmospheric conditions affecting normal contrails. I watched two 737s fly over one day and within twenty minutes they were perfect donut on a rope contrails.

[Signal Witch]

The Doughnut ringed contrails which have been seen and filmed make me wonder what kind of ride that would make for? 

Violent, would be my thought. Whoever the pilots were, I'm sure they have some interesting compensation.

[Maxmars]

I want to ask if these 'doughnut' shaped contrails is the result of two vortexes colliding (like from a surface edge) or something like super-positioning of the vortexes?

I always thought those came from a different tech using combustion pulses... but hell... I look to you guys for all my "true facts." 

[Blackfingers]

I want to ask if these 'doughnut' shaped contrails is the result of two vortexes colliding (like from a surface edge) or something like super-positioning of the vortexes?

I always thought those came from a different tech using combustion pulses... but hell... I look to you guys for all my "true facts." 

Think people are confusing pulse doughnut contrail engines with Pulse Jet operations.
Pulse jets are old,WW2 tech.Butterfly vane plus fuel plus spark plug gives you thrust..
Chymera Engines is where the fun is today.Projects morph,change names,change contracts,change companies but the theory is the same.
Not just getting airframes  to last past minutes its getting all the systems to work during that period as well.Avionics get hot,fluid lines stretch and shrink,mechanical,hydraulic and oil systems all have to work in high temperature enviroments.
Also flight control surfaces have to react at Mach 6+ forces.