Launch of the first Dryden Aerospike rocket. The Dryden Aerospike Rocket Test provided the first known data from a solid-fueled aerospike rocket in flight.

Trong Bui, NASA Dryden's principal investigator for the aerospike rocket tests, holds the first of two 10-ft. long rockets that were flown at speeds up to Mach 1.5, the first known supersonic tests of rockets with aerospike nozzles. The goals of the flight research project were to obtain aerospike rocket nozzle performance data in flight and to investigate the effects of transonic flow and transient flight conditions on aerospike nozzle performance.

A closeup of one of the Cesaroni Technology, Inc. - constructed aerospike nozzles used in the Dryden Aerospike Rocket Test.

The NASA SR-71 triple-supersonic aircraft carries the Linear Aerospike Experiment on Wednesday, March 4, 1998, during a flight from NASA’s Armstrong (then Dryden) Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Gaseous helium and liquid nitrogen cycled through the linear aerospike engine during the flight to check the engine’s plumbing system for leaks and to check the engine operating characteristics. Cold-flow tests must be accomplished successfully before firing the rocket engine experiment in flight.

The NASA SR-71A successfully completed its first cold flow flight as part of the NASA/Rocketdyne/Lockheed Martin Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California on March 4, 1998. During a cold flow flight, gaseous helium and liquid nitrogen are cycled through the linear aerospike engine to check the engine's plumbing system for leaks and to check the engine operating characterisitics. Cold-flow tests must be accomplished successfully before firing the rocket engine experiment in flight. The SR-71 took off at 10:16 a.m. PST. The aircraft flew for one hour and fifty-seven minutes, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 1.58 before landing at Edwards at 12:13 p.m. PST. "I think all in all we had a good mission today," Dryden LASRE Project Manager Dave Lux said. Flight crew member Bob Meyer agreed, saying the crew "thought it was a really good flight." Dryden Research Pilot Ed Schneider piloted the SR-71 during the mission. Lockheed Martin LASRE Project Manager Carl Meade added, "We are extremely pleased with today's results. This will help pave the way for the first in-flight engine data-collection flight of the LASRE."

Chuck Rogers, Trong Bui, and Scott Bartel make preflight checks on the second of two aerospike research rockets on March 31, 2004.