STRATOFLY Project: analysis of the Concept of Operations of a hypersonic civil passenger transport aircraft

In 2050 the number of passengers travelling globally aboard civil aircrafts is predicted to be six-fold higher than today. New and promising technologies in the fields of high-speed propulsion and high-temperature resistant materials make it possible to think about the exploitation of the stratosphere for long distance routes to be covered in shorter time frames with respect to conventional civil passenger aircrafts. The STRATOFLY project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme for the development of a hypersonic civil passenger transport aircraft concept, addressed as STRATOFLY MR3, that shall be able to perform cruise at 30 km altitude and Mach 8 flight speed with the aim to drastically reduce transfer time, noise and emissions for long haul point-to-point missions. The project gains relevant knowledge from previous EU co-funded projects in the field of hypersonic transport. The conceptual design of such kind of system and the related mission, however, is a complex challenge and the cooperation of many participants from different institutions is crucial to achieve project’s goals. This Thesis gives a contribution to the STRATOFLY project in terms of Concept of Operations (ConOps) analysis and trajectory simulation via ASTOS software. The ConOps analysis has led to the development of the conceptual Design Reference Mission (DRM) in terms of mission phases definition and assessment. The mission has been also studied from an operational point of view through the definition of the subsystems level modes of operations and the development of operational procedures supported by useful logical decomposition tools. Furthermore, possible out-of-nominal scenarios have been identified in relation to possible critical events that can affect the propulsive subsystem during the mission. Both the DRM and some relevant out-of-nominal scenarios have been finally simulated and assessed via ASTOS software leading to important results about mission phases duration, fuel consumption and feasibility of certain operational procedures. Thanks to interesting projects and outstanding technologies under investigation all around the world, the future of civil aviation is revealing to be promising and fascinating. Together with the work of other researchers, engineers and dreamers from and outside Europe, this Thesis is intended to play its very small part to make it happen.