Test Infrastructure · Wildau, Germany

Big Air
Test GmbH

We develop equipment and infrastructure for high-pressure, high-temperature air supply — enabling
full-scale, full-duration high-speed testing with high enthalpy air, at affordable cost.

Hypersonic research spaceplane in flight
testing for advances in aerospace
850°CFirst heater temperature
40 barFirst heater pressure
1000×Air vs. cylinder banks
2027First heater module tests
Why we exist

Design speed is accelerating.
Verification is the bottleneck.

AI is accelerating aerospace design — but every program still has to prove it through test. Testing can consume two-thirds of a development budget, and verified raw test data is the foundation for reliable AI-assisted development.

Salt cavern storage cutaway
The big idea

To master the sky,
we went underground.

Mature salt-cavern technology stores pressurized air,
up to 1000× the air of conventional cylinder banks.

Test faster. Fail cheaper. Fly sooner.

Imagine full-scale ground testing, any time you need it.
Full duration, real conditions, finally affordable.


First product

The low-cost non-vitiated air heater

Clean, non-vitiated air at 850 °C and 40 bar — the first in a family of heaters built on a fundamentally different approach to produce high-enthalpy test air on a continuous basis.

Heater prototype virtual cutaway
ParameterFirst heaterThe vision
Air temperature850 °C1000 °C
Pressure40 bar150+ bar
Mass flowdemonstrator1000+ kg/s
StatusModule Test 2028Roadmap
Market introduction20292033
Gyroid TPMS heat exchanger lattice
The physics of cheap

A heater up to 80% smaller footprint

By using high-pressure cavern air to supply the gas-heater combustor, we run high pressure on both sides of the heat-exchanger walls.

That raises heat flux up to 20× and cuts the required heat-exchanger material to roughly 20% of today's solutions — a modular, natural-gas-fired, multi-pass exchanger with re-heat, with options for clean-energy burner operation. We evaluate different kinds of cutting-edge heat exchanger technologies.

Approach based on patents US 9,604,756 and US 10,031,049.

What you can test

From components to full vehicles.

01 · Materials

Thermal-protection material systems & coupons under real high-enthalpy flow conditions.

02 · Components

Fully instrumented components and subsystems.

03 · Propulsion

Propulsion-system development and verification.

04 · Full vehicles

Full scale, full duration — at flight conditions, on the ground, without risking your test asset.

Discuss your test campaign →
The Vision

Full Scale
Full Duration
Testing

Big Air Test GmbH is developing equipment and infrastructure for 1000+ kg/s of non-vitiated air at 150+ bar and 1000 °C at affordable cost.

Heater prototype virtual cutaway

Salt Cavern Air Storage

Mature oil & gas technology — hundreds of caverns exist in Germany. Each stores 1000× the amount of air of classical cylinder banks, at pressures up to 250 bar, leveraging renewable energy.

High Enthalpy, Lower Cost

Our novel heater will produce non-vitiated air up to 1000°C of continuous flow. This approach reduces capital cost to ~25% of conventional systems used today. Other gases are potential options.

Data for Design Verification

We enable verified raw test data across materials, components, propulsion and full vehicles — removing bottlenecks for advanced developments and qualifications. Full scale, long duration testing.

The roadmap

2027First heater module tests.

Non-vitiated air at 850 °C and 40 bar — proof of the low-cost approach.

2029First small Heater on the market

>3kg/s to start small.

Heater family & cavern facilities

Scaling toward 1000+ kg/s, 150+ bar, 1000 °C high-enthalpy test infrastructure.

"Big Air Test GmbH. Real advances require bold approaches."

Big Air Test surface test facility
Careers · Wildau, Brandenburg

Be part of our story.

World-class technology, developed in Germany.
A 2026 startup creating genuinely new concepts,
and hiring across engineering and research projects.

Contact

Let's talk.

Whether you are interested in our heater, need affordable test infrastructure, or want to join the team:

info@bigairtest.de
LocationLudwig-Witthöft-Straße 14
Wildau, Brandenburg
Germany
CompanyBig Air Test GmbH
Founded 2026
Find us atILA Berlin 2026
Hall B / 320
#ILA2026
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