Stefan Powell, Dawn Aerospace co-founder and chief technology officer, with the Dawn Mk-II suborbital spaceplane.

Dawn Aerospace announced Dec. 9 that it received approval from the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to begin flying the Mk-II Aurora, a 4.8-meter-long test vehicle the company developed as part of a long-term campaign to develop a reusable spaceplane.

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Debra Werner is a correspondent for SpaceNews based in San Francisco. Debra earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University. She is a recipient...