Space Transportation plans to conduct ground tests by 2023 before carrying out its first test flight in 2024.
Traveling from Beijing to New York and thinking about the long never-ending flight? Worry no more! You’ll soon be able to reach your destination in no time. A Chinese aerospace firm Space Transportation said it’s working on developing an aircraft that will be used as a supersonic business jet which will only take an hour to cover the distance between Beijing and New York.
Space Transportation last year said it has raised $46.3 million for its supersonic space plane, which it further claims will travel at about 2,600 mph. This jet is reported to be six times faster than the commercial aircrafts. The company also said it recently conducted successful test flights on rockets, called Tianxing 1 and Tianxing 2, however, it did not disclose any information regarding the tests. As per sources, the ‘winged rocket’ is believed to have lower operational costs.
Space Transportation plans to conduct ground tests by 2023 before carrying out its first test flight in 2024. If development proceeds on track, it would have a crewed test flight in 2025. As per officials during a CGI presentation, the passengers were seen boarding the aircraft that is attached to a glider wing with two rocket boosters. The airplane then detaches from the wing after takeoff and flies through suborbital space. The wing and boosters will then land back on the launch pad, while the aircraft proceeds to its destination, landing vertically.
This aircraft may be the one to be used as a supersonic business jet, but is not the first one. Concorde, was the first supersonic passenger-carrying commercial airplane (or supersonic transport, SST), built jointly by aircraft manufacturers in Great Britain and France. The Concorde made its first transatlantic crossing on September 26, 1973, and it inaugurated the world’s first scheduled supersonic passenger service on January 21, 1976. The jets were widely used by British Airways and Air France.
However, the aircraft’s noise and operating expense limited its service. Financial losses led both airlines to cut routes, eventually leaving New York City as their only regular destination. Concorde operations were finally ceased by Air France in May 2003 and by British Airways in October 2003. Only 14 of the aircraft actually went into service.
On July 25, 2000, a Concorde jet en route from Paris to New York City suffered engine failure shortly after takeoff when debris from a burst tire caused a fuel tank to rupture and burst into flames. This was followed by other incidents due to which the airlines stopped the flights.
While talking about supersonic jet technology, Boom Technology is one of the most talked-about and one of the leading voices in supersonic flight research. The concept for the Overture airliner was revealed in 2016 and has undergone significant changes since then.
The company has built a one-third scale technology demonstrator, and accepted several dozen orders from major airlines. It expects to test a full-scale prototype of the Overture by 2026, and begin mass-producing the jet by the end of the 2020s. Presenting itself as a successor to the Concorde project – Boom Technology is aiming high. And while the aircraft itself seems unremarkable when compared with other entries on this list, it also appears to be the most realistic, and has the highest probability of being built.
Further, Virgin Galactic last summer launched CEO Sir Richard Branson on an 11-minute suborbital flight, officially introducing the space-tourism industry to the general public. A Virgin Galactic executive said that space tourism would be the company’s initial focus, but he also foresaw a time when the fixed-wing aircraft would serve as a supersonic commuter.
