Under the contract, the startup will design, build, and flight test the spaceplane.
The aircraft will serve as a testbed for hypersonic flight and defence research.
Itcould be used as a small satellite carrier if fitted with a non-reusable upper stage, Polaris said.
Polaris was founded in 2019 by Alexander Kopp as a spin-off from the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
It builds upon over three decades of German and European spaceplane research.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
The startup has already built three demonstrators of its Aurora spaceplane.
The first, Mira I, crashed shortly after its inaugural flight.
But the next two iterations Mira-II and Mira-III had better luck.
However, aerospikes never entered the mainstream because they are hard to cool and difficult to build.
Polaris work on advanced cooling technologies and materials may just overcome past engineering challenges.
Polaris made history in October last year when it conducted the first-ever flight powered by an aerospike engine.
Story bySion Geschwindt
Sion is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy.
