Hypersonic Jet Seeks To Fly From New York To London In 90 Minutes

PARIS – The world has not seen a supersonic aircraft since the demise of the Concorde in 2003. The legendary plane connected New York and London in as little as three and a half hours, but several factors including its costly fuel-hungry engines made the Concorde difficult to sustain.

Nevertheless, that hasn’t stopped several aerospace startups from coming up with new and environmentally friendly ideas for super-speedy planes. One of the most well-known is Colorado-based Boom Supersonic, which is making progress on its Overture jet. US carriers United Airlines and American Airlines have already placed orders.

However, there are a few other companies hoping to create an even faster aircraft that can outrun the Overture and the Concorde, including European aircraft manufacturing startup Destinus.

Insider spoke with the Destinus team at the Paris Air Show in June to learn more about its hydrogen-powered hypersonic jet — take a look.

At only two years old, Destinus has big ambitions for commercial hypersonic flight, which means flying at five times the speed of sound.

The company’s revolutionary project is Destinus S — a 25-seater business jet that can fly up to 10,000 kilometers (6,214 miles) and cruise up to 33 kilometers (20 miles).

Twenty miles translates to about 108,000 feet, meaning the jet will soar more than 60,000 feet higher than current airliners.

About the Author: Mike Brennan

Founder of Michigan News Network, and serves as CEO, as well as Editor & Publisher of MITECHNEWS.COM. Brennan has worked since 1980 as a technology writer at newspapers in New York, NY, San Jose, CA., Seattle, WA., Memphis, TN., Detroit, MI., and London, England. He co-founded and served as managing editor of Pacific Rim News Service (SEATTLE), which developed a network of more than 100 freelance journalists in 17 Asia-Pacific countries.