Flying on holiday and getting from London to New York in just 90 minutes sounds almost impossible. But it won’t be in a few years.
Atlanta – The Hermeus company is currently developing hypersonic aircraft that will take passengers non-stop from London to New York in 90 minutes on transatlantic routes – at a speed of more than 4,800 kilometers per hour. Passengers could also cross the Pacific Ocean from LA to Tokyo in just two hours and 45 minutes with one stopover.
Supersonic plane Mach 5: Faster than the speed of sound
Supersonic aircraft fly faster than the speed of sound: the latter is also known as Mach 1. Hypersonic aircraft, on the other hand, fly at more than five times the speed of sound, even at Mach 5. The start-up’s goal is to make a passenger aircraft called Halcyon, “which can cover 125 transatlantic routes at Mach 5 speeds, a reality,” it says the Website von Hermes. However, the aircraft should only be able to carry 20 passengers at a time, according to the key data:
| speed | MACH 5 (4,800 kilometers per hour) |
| number of passengers | 20 |
| altitude | 90,000 Feet (27.43 km) |
| Range | 7.400 km |
| Material | titanium alloy |
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Mach 5 aircraft are under development for both the commercial and defense industries. According to media reports, the rise in territorial conflicts and a surge in the development of hypersonic technology have boosted the global travel market. “Mach 5 aircraft have the potential to create an additional $4 billion per year in global economic growth, as well as significant resources that can be used to solve major world problems,” the company said.
Hypersonic passenger aircraft: It should be on the market in a few years
The start-up from Atlanta, USA, is named after the Olympian deity Hermes, the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology, was founded in 2018 and is privately financed. The company is currently expanding beyond its headquarters: According to the start-up’s website, it has recently entered into a $950 million partnership with the US Air Force. As part of this, a new location was opened in Washington. However, there is still a long way to go before it will be possible to travel with a hypersonic passenger aircraft: it will not be possible to use the machines for commercial air travel until 2029.
2023-05-11 20:54:32
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