Ravn X emerged from a hangar at Long Beach Airport on Thursday night. Aviation photographer Ricky Schol said he had never seen anything like it in 16 years of shooting there. The aircraft was later identified as Aevum Aerospace’s space-launch drone.
Ricky Schol at Long Beach Airport
Schol said, "I was driving home past my local airport Thursday evening here in Southern California when I saw a bright light coming from a hangar I haven’t seen open in a long time, so I doubled back to check it out."
He also said, "I was blown away when I pulled over and saw the future in front of my eyes."
He added, "I had no clue what I was looking at."
Aevum Aerospace and N567RX
The aircraft carried the FAA N Number N567RX, which Aevum had reserved to an address at the airport. That points to a deliberate ground presence rather than a random visitor, and it ties the sighting to Aevum Aerospace of Huntsville, Alabama.
Schol said, "At first glance I thought it was an F-117 Nighthawk when driving by," and, "And to my surprise I saw something I’ve never seen before, having no cockpit."
The aircraft appears to have been a mockup. A mockup of the drone was introduced online in 2021, and Jay Skylus described it as the "mothership" for a two-stage rocket able to carry a payload of just over 1,000 pounds.
RAVN X testing plans
The Ravn X drone was described by the company as the first stage of the system. It reportedly weighs 55,000 pounds, is 80 feet long, and has a wingspan of 60 feet.
Aevum planned to begin with vehicle-level testing to obtain airworthiness certification and launch licensing for operations. Skylus said that process should take 18 months, and Aevum planned to secure airworthiness certification from the FAA before orbital launch tests from Cecil Spaceport in Jacksonville, Florida, by late 2021.
That sequence leaves one practical question hanging: whether Aevum ever got past the mockup stage and into the testing steps needed to fly RAVN X.
