You can make it! Engineering the Future of Hypersonic Flight

Simone Wilson

At her space startup, Simone Wilson is helping design and build hypersonic aircraft that could revolutionise access to space and potentially transformglobal travel as we know it.

“I am an aerothermal engineer. The industry that I work in is build a space sector, but specifically we’re designing a hypersonic plane,” Simone explains. “We’re building a plane that will fly seven times faster than the speed of sound.”

From Traveller to Engineer

Simone’s path to engineering wasn’t traditional way you might expect.

“I didn’t take the highest level of math in school. I was interested in international studies and social sciences, and when I left school, I said I wanted to do a year of travel (at least).”

After five years abroad, a chance encounter changed her trajectory.

“I was working in a big famous bookstore in the UK, and we had this science week and three astronauts came in… I got talking to them. And they were just awesome, lovely people… it was just at this right time where I was ready to come home. And I thought, you know, space, I could really see myself in that field. So that was why I came home and started studying engineering.”

A New Kind of Manufacturing

Simone has been at her company for two years, working in what she describes as non-traditional manufacturing. “I feel a little bit like an impostor because what I do is not traditional manufacturing, but it’s a space startup. So, we have, we all do everything like part, we’re all on the tools, we’re all 3D printing the entire airframe, which I think is like a new type of manufacturing.”

For her, manufacturing is fundamentally about creation. “I think really at the end of the day, it’s anything where you’re making something. So, it could be with a sewing machine, or it could be with a hammer or, in our case, like a lot of it’s on a computer using CAD. To design to you, you upload a file and then a machine 3D print it.”

Solving Extreme Engineering Challenges

The hypersonic plane presents unique technical challenges.

“When you’re travelling that fast, there’s a lot of friction. The outside of the vehicle will be glowing red hot. But on the inside, we have electronics, and they’re designed to operate at the same temperature that they would in a room on the ground. We need to keep the inside of the vehicle at like a comfortable room temperature. But the outside is 1000°, so there’s lots of challenges that arise in the field of hypersonics.”

Revolutionary Potential

Simone is excited about the transformative possibilities of their technology.

“The amazing thing about the Hypersonic plane is that it can take off on a runway and it can launch a satellite from Australia, point it exactly where you want it to go. Pop a little satellite up into orbit and then land back down and do it again. And it’s reusable.”

Even more revolutionary could be the impact on travel.

“There’s companies looking at using hypersonic, I think the one that we have is probably a bit too fast and they’ve done some analysis. Travelling at hypersonic speeds is possible for commercial travel and so like we could get from here to London in 20 minutes and that would be amazing.”

Supportive Environment for Women

Unlike some in manufacturing, Simone has found a supportive atmosphere. “I have to say I’ve been lucky. When I was going through university there was a big intake of women in engineering—one of the biggest. I think that’s because people before me had been working for years to make that better. I feel like I really am riding the wave of like there’s a lot of support, a lot of encouragement.”

The main challenges are practical rather than social.

“It’s only little things – like we only have giant welding gloves and I’m a little lady – the smaller sizes of things, often don’t fit me. I guess that’s the biggest thing I have to overcome.”

Looking Forward to Launch

Simone is anticipating a major milestone. “The first one will be sometime this year. We’ll launch on a rocket from the state… I’m really hoping to get over to the states to see it. I’ve never launched, so that would be pretty cool.”

Encouraging Authenticity

Her advice to others is to be themselves and follow their interests. “If you’re interested in doing it, then it’s what you need to do. Just be you… your unique perspective and experience is going to make the industry a better place.”

Simone’s work represents the cutting edge of manufacturing, where advanced design, materials science, and 3D printing are creating vehicles that could fundamentally change how we access space and move around our planet.