This hypersonic plane could connect Europe to Australia in record time

Since the end of the Concorde, supersonic commercial flights have lost their luster, and few companies have stepped into the breach to offer revolutionary aircraft. Some have floated the idea of ​​using hydrogen, but it’s a European start-up that promises to revolutionize the sector, describes us CNN. The Destinus is an aircraft that promises hypersonic journeys, with speeds corresponding to a Mach number equal to or greater than 5. Their designers are already talking about journeys between Frankfurt and Sydney in four hours and fifteen minutes or between Memphis and Dubai in three hours. and thirty minutes.

The Destinus project was launched in Switzerland in 2021, but the teams are spread over several European countries, such as France, Germany or Spain. Two prototypes have already seen the light of day and have passed test flights; those with hydrogen are about to be tested. Is this the beginning of the era of supersonic travel? Yes, according to business development manager Martina Löfqvist. “There are different approaches to achieve this” according to her, especially since its competitors working on the subject (like Boom Supersonic) are currently focusing on models and “understanding how it works”.

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Flights in 2040?

With Destinus, the company wants to go directly towards autonomous flights, by developing “small drones, [en les mettant] to scale then [faisant] a large aircraft piloted by a pilot or carrying passengers”, Martina Löfqvist told CNN. Destinus wants to use hydrogen, a clean and environmentally friendly fuel. If the subject is raised today, we are not sure. in its infancy in the aeronautical sector. Its main advantage is its lightness compared to kerosene. The long-term objective being to use only hydrogen, and therefore produce no greenhouse gas emissions.

The prototype called “Destinus 3” will be supersonic according to our American colleagues, and the company hopes that it will reach the same speed with hydrogen as early as 2024. The company also hopes to launch a prototype on a smaller scale by 2030, can accommodate 25 passengers. A classic version could see the light of day by 2040, with the start-up hoping that the price of hydrogen will fall by then. To finance this project, Destinus benefits from private investments and public funds, but also from subsidies. But the company is certain: it will achieve its goals, especially since one of its competitors, Aerion, has thrown in the towel in 2021. By then there will surely be obstacles, technological or environmental, but Destinus wants to do everything to achieve its goals.

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