Supersonic passenger aircrafts will be returned soon

Created on 21.04.2022 11:10

Several entrepreneurs and investors have "declassified" the development of the latest aircrafts capable of flying at speed exceeding Mach 5, more than five times faster than the speed of sound. On March 10, Atlanta-based Hermeus has announced that they invested $100 million to develop a hypersonic civilian aircraft. NASA is participating in the project as a technology partner.

Hermeus will equip its first prototype, called the Quarterhorse, with a turbine-based combined cycle engine. In this regard, Hermeus assumes that the takeoff and landing phases will be the same as phases of a conventional jet. A propulsive jet engine will switch into the special mode when the aircraft reaches the ocean by demonstrating its hypersonic power. According to Hermeus forecasts, prices will be the same as in the usual business class.

Hermeus is not the only startup working on commercial hypersonic models. Swiss startup Destinus is developing an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of reaching astounding speed of up to Mach 15. At this speed, a trip from Frankfurt to Seoul takes only about one hour and 15 minutes, while Australia can be reached from Europe less than 2 hours.

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