A hypersonic startup's hydrogen-powered jet aims to speed up London to New York flights to merely 90 minutes.
(Not the actual photo)ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP via Getty Images
A hypersonic startup in Europe is testing a hydrogen-powered jet, which could speed up a London to New York flight to merely 90 minutes or one and a half hours.
On top of that, the European startup aims to cut travel time from Frankfurt to Sydney to more than four hours.
Hypersonic Hydrogen-Powered Jet to Speed Up Flights
The second hypersonic prototype of Destinus, Eiger. Destinus
CNN says two decades have passed since the last supersonic Concorde jet made its final commercial passenger flight. It was the end of an era of super-fast travel. And since then, we have not seen anything like that in the market.
History.com notes that the last supersonic jet commercial flight, which traveled at an ultra-fast twice the speed of sound, flew from the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to the Heathrow Airport in London on October 24, 2003.
Back then, the supersonic flight from New York to London only lasted roughly three hours. But this time, a new hypersonic startup plans to beat that feat.
The new European startup, Destinus, seeks to offer flights from London to New York in 90 minutes. CNN notes that travel time from Memphis to Dubai could shorten to three and a half hours. According to Forbes, flying from Australia to Europe only takes about one and a half hours.
Essentially, the Destinus hydrogen-powered concept flight seeks to travel five times the speed of sound. In turn, it should deliver flights that are more or less a quarter faster than most passenger flights.
The European startup, founded in 2021, is based in Canton Vaud, Switzerland, composed of over 120 staff in various parts of the region, such as Germany, France, and Spain. Although the firm is relatively new, it is already making strides in its early concept. Not to mention that the Spanish Ministry of Defense has already handed the company two research grants to pursue its hypersonic endeavors.
Forbes notes that, all in all, the startup has already raised a whopping $50 million.
The Destinus business development manager, Martina Löfqvist, says Hydrogen "has higher energy density than traditional jet fuel." And on top of that, it is lighter than kerosene, which aircraft use these days, and friendlier to the environment. Less weight should also help the aircraft travel at higher speeds.
Löfqvist explained to CNN what sets them apart from other hypersonic contenders. She notes that other companies pursuing hypersonic flights, like Boom, primarily focus on creating mockups to understand the aircraft's ins and outs.
On the other hand, Destiny is going straight ahead on developing "smaller-size drones." And from there, they will think of ways to scale it up to make a passenger hypersonic aircraft.
