A 35-minute flight from London to New York is a step closer to reality following the latest successful test of hypersonic technology.
A joint US-Australian military research team sent a scramjet attached to a rocket booster to an altitude of 278km at Mach 7.5 – or seven times the speed of sound.The research team is running 10 trials at the world’s largest land testing range, Woomera in South Australia, and at Norway’s Andoya Rocket Range.
Mach 7.5 classes it as ‘hypersonic travel’, which is defined as travel at more than five times the speed of sound.
Scientists have said hypersonic technology could cut travelling times drastically.
For instance, a trip from Sydney to London could be done in two hours for 17,000 km flight.
And the 5571km trip from London to New York could take just 35 minutes.
