Recently, a new technology has been created and tested. In one hour, hypersonic speed allows one to travel from San Francisco to London. German scientists of the German Aerospace Center are making plans to create the fastest hypersonic aircraft. Currently, a Japanese aircraft is capable of reaching 5 times the speed of sound, while the European Lapcat-II is capable of speeds of mach 8.

The Space Launcher Systems Analysis has currently done research on hypersonic travel for about 10 decades and plans to send fifty passengers by hypersonic travel that is twenty-five times faster than the speed of sound. The craft is automated by two pilots and is planned to accelerate with eleven rocket boosters at once. Once the boosters become empty, the aircraft glides into the mesosphere at mach 25 (25 times faster than the speed of sound) until it reaches an altitude of eighty kilometers. At eighty kilometers, it descends towards it destination.

Additionally, because hypersonic speed uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, it is environmentally friendly. With the high amount of technology to revolutionize transportation, there are downfalls. The costs are too high and can only be afforded by very wealthy people. To make the price lower, engineers have designed rocket boosters to be reusable for about 25 launches and avoid using untested technology to bypass unnecessary risks. Before a flight, the aircraft will be upright and during the first ten minutes passengers will experience about 2.5 G, which is 2.5 times their body weight while on Earth’s surface. The estimated investment in hypersonic travel would be around 32 million euros for building a prototype. Space Launcher Systems Analysis hopes that designing a reusable space system for regular passenger traffic would promote space travel to more people and be more cost effective.

The aircraft Spaceliner would need suitable places for launch. It is planned to be located in cities while avoiding densely populated areas to minimize noise issues. Additionally, coasts allow for better start offs since the launch would be above water, which is the source of fuel for Spaceliner. I believe this technology will help us get closer to the technologies of the science fiction genre. Additionally, with this fuel source, it may potentially stop global warming by replacing oil and gas with water for fuel.


<Minsuk Kim, Centennial High School 10th Grade>