Aurora Flight Sciences Orion

Lore & Background

Work on the Orion began in 2006, when the U.S. Army funded it as a hydrogen-fuelled high-altitude, long-loiter UAV. Aurora Flight Sciences was selected by the Air Force Research Laboratory in 2007 for the Ultra Long Endurance study contract. The company won a joint-capability technology demonstration contract to build the Orion in 2009, leading to a contract for the Medium-Altitude Global Intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and Communications relay (Magic) joint concept technology demonstration in 2010. By then, the Orion had been redesigned as a twin-engine, turbo-diesel-powered, medium-altitude UAV capable of flying for 120 hours at 20,000 ft with a 1,000 lb payload. The first demonstrator was rolled out on 22 November 2010, 88 days after the contract award. In 2011, the program was transferred to the Air Force's Big Safari office.

Flight testing began with the first flight on 24 August 2013, lasting 3.5 hours at 8,000 ft. From 5–8 December 2014, the Orion performed an 80-hour flight at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, breaking the 30.4-hour endurance record set by the Global Hawk in 2001. The aircraft flew between 4,500–10,000 ft with 1,000 lb of ballast to simulate payload. Upon landing, it had 1,700 lb of fuel remaining, enough for an additional 37 hours. The December flight was the 18th for the Orion, logging 158 total flight hours. After five years of development and completing its flight demonstration program, by September 2015 the aircraft was relegated to a company hangar with the Air Force deciding not to buy it. Reasons included budget problems, a 40 m wingspan that cannot fit in many existing Air Force hangars, less speed, payload, and weapons capacity compared to the MQ-9 Reaper, and primarily the lack of an operational requirement for a multi-day, long-endurance unmanned aircraft.

The company is trying to raise money from private equity sources to build a system of three Orions to be leased to customers. By September 2016, the Orion was being taken out of storage to fly again. A plan was approved to build one three-vehicle system and offer the capability to the military as a contractor-owned or operated ISR service. The new Block 1 design features a slightly smaller tailplane surface and other changes to offer by late 2019. A series of demonstrations are planned with the U.S. Coast Guard to experiment with surveillance missions over maritime borders.

Reader's Guide

The Orion's significance lies in its extreme endurance and cost-efficiency goals, though it never entered service with the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft was designed to have a time-on-station cost only 20 percent that of current aerial surveillance aircraft like the Predator, MQ-9 Reaper, and MC-12W Liberty, achieved through efficient aerodynamics, lightweight airframe, and autonomous operation. Its ferry range of 13,000 nmi exceeds even the Global Hawk, enabling a time-on-station capability ranging from 113 hours at 550 nmi to 47 hours at 3,000 nmi. The Orion set an endurance record of 80 hours in December 2014, but the Air Force ultimately decided against procurement due to budget constraints, hangar size incompatibility, lower speed and payload compared to the MQ-9 Reaper, and a lack of operational requirement for multi-day endurance. Aurora Flight Sciences has since sought international customers and private equity funding to build a three-vehicle system for lease, offering ISR services on a fee-for-service basis, similar to arrangements used by U.S. Special Operations Command for ScanEagle drones. The aircraft's legacy is as a technological demonstrator that pushed the boundaries of endurance but failed to find a military buyer.

Did You Know?

• Only one Orion was ever built.
• The Orion broke the endurance record set by the Global Hawk in 2001 with an 80-hour flight in December 2014.
• The aircraft's wingspan of 132 ft (40 m) prevented it from fitting in many existing Air Force hangars.
• The Orion was originally conceived as a hydrogen-fuelled high-altitude UAV before being redesigned with twin diesel engines.