China has achieved a groundbreaking success in aviation. A team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences has successfully tested a prototype hypersonic aircraft that reaches Mach 6.56 (approximately 8,100 km/h). To be more precise, a flight between Beijing and New York today takes about 13 hours, but with this technology, this distance will be covered in just 2 hours.
China’s prototype jet reaches speeds of 8,100 kilometers per hour
The jaw-dropping test was actually carried out in 2021 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert and lasted 20 minutes. However, due to the sensitivity of the project, the details were kept secret for nearly two years. Cui Kai, the leader of the project, explained that when he first presented the design in 2013, it was met with skepticism in the scientific world, but thanks to the team’s perseverance, great progress was made.
The development of hypersonic aircraft is not an easy process. Cui said there are still serious challenges to be worked on. These challenges include propulsion systems, material technologies and aircraft structural design. The project is being supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, but the budget allocation was not disclosed.
Previously, supersonic flights were commercially possible with airplanes such as Concorde. However, hypersonic flights represent a transition to a whole new level in terms of both speed and technology. If this technology becomes available for commercial flights, it could radically reduce transportation times around the world.
The Academy gave no details about the next steps of the project and did not specify whether a full-scale model of the aircraft is under construction or when the first flight of a full prototype will take place. Do you think this kind of technology could completely change the future of transportation? How fast can hypersonic flights be integrated into everyday life? Please leave your comments in the comments section below…
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