Cadoux (ASX:CCM) has achieved a major breakthrough with the supply of key material for a hypersonic test flight in the United States, to be conducted by Pluto Aerospace using batteries developed by AETC and Navitas that form part of the rocket's onboard management system.

The hypersonic test flight is scheduled for 18 August from the Spaceport America rocket testing site in New Mexico, a commercial spaceport used for vertical launch operations. Pluto will conduct a vertical launch flight test of one of its Dash rockets, with Navitas batteries serving as the power source for the rocket's control management system. The Navitas-designed battery features Cadoux's premiumHPA. Hypersonic flight — generally defined as travel above five times the speed of sound — exposes onboard systems to intense heat and vibration, which makes stable power delivery across temperature extremes a core requirement for such vehicles.

The battery uses AETC's complex additive formulas, which incorporate primary and recycled materials together with nanosized premiumHPA alumina. The premiumHPA is used to improve cell performance and safety and to prolong calendar life, particularly at the temperature extremes required in specialty applications. According to the company, the combination of AETC's additives and Cadoux's premiumHPA allowed Navitas to achieve consistent, superior performance from its advanced lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery.

Managing Director Roland Hill said that, for Cadoux, a successful hypersonic test flight would represent a further major step in the qualification and commercial de-risking of premiumHPA, and presents the opportunity to demonstrate its operating performance in an innovative engineering application.

"Cadoux is pleased to announce our participation in the demonstration of the hypersonic rocket to evaluate the reliability and performance of the Pluto rocket and to validate the innovative Navitas battery incorporating the advanced recycled materials and premiumHPA," he said.

"The test flight program will demonstrate the battery's technical capabilities and support future commercial implementation across many high-value application specific functions."

Cadoux is focused on two key materials essential for global electrification: high purity alumina (HPA) and rare earth minerals, which are key feedstock for rare earth magnets. The company says both its HPA and 'Minhub' projects align strongly with Australia's critical minerals policy by inducing new supply of essential critical minerals and creating value-adding, new sovereign supply chains for strategic minerals.

HPA is increasingly becoming a preferred input material for certain high-tech products, principally for its unique characteristics and chemical properties in high specification requirements. In lithium-ion batteries, high-purity alumina is widely used as a ceramic coating on cell separators to improve thermal stability and safety, while other established uses include sapphire and LED substrates — end markets tied to electrification and advanced electronics.

With the flight test scheduled for 18 August, the immediate next step is the launch itself, and the company points to subsequent qualification work and commercial implementation of the premiumHPA-incorporating battery as the follow-on milestones for the material.

Prior to markets opening, CCM was steady at 2.3 cents with a market capitalisation of $10.51 million.

Source: The Market Online Australia