World’s First Hypersonic Jet That Can Travel From London To New York In One Hour Set For Test Flight

The world's first hypersonic jet, which can travel from London to New York City in just one hour, is set to go into testing.

It’s now over 20 years since Concorde’s last flight, with many countries having since blocked planes from travelling at such high speeds due to the disturbance from sonic booms when they break the sound barrier.

Add to that the fact that the technology is prohibitively expensive, putting tickets mostly out of reach for all but the richest people and you can see why there has been little development in supersonic commercial travel recently.

However, it seems that interest is starting to grow with a new project suggesting it could deliver flights twice as fast as Concorde.

Last week, startup engineering company Venus Aerospace unveiled an engine it says is capable of super high speed ‘hypersonic’ flight.

What is hypersonic travel?

Hypersonic jets would be capable of reaching speeds of over 3,000 miles per hour or Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound). The distance between London and New York is 3,461 miles - putting travel time at around one hour - roughly a third of the record set by Concorde of 2 hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds.

And the engine set to deliver these eye watering speeds is the Venus Detonation Ramjet 2000 lb Thrust Engine, also known as ‘VDR2’,

Venus Aerospace say they are planning a test flight next year along with aerospace company Velontra, with the intention of ‘unlocking the high-speed flight economy’ for both commercial and defence aircraft.

The plane will fly higher than traditional aircraft, taking off using traditional jet engines but then transitioning to rockets once it reaches altitude.

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While not technically on the edge of space, it will fly high enough to see the planet’s curve and the blackness of space above it.

Unveiling the new engine at the Up.Summit, Venus Aerospace co-founder Andrew Duggleby said: “This engine makes the hypersonic economy a reality. We are excited to partner with Velontra to achieve this revolution in high speed flight, given their expertise in high-speed air combustion.”

Eric Briggs, Velontra’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “We can’t wait to dig in, make the first one fly, and ultimately perfect an engine concept that has lived mostly in textbooks but never as a production unit in the air.

“We couldn’t think of a better partner than Venus. Rocketry pioneers in their own right, and ready to tackle the hard problems, we are eager to fly the same path with them.”