Virgin Galactic unveils 2,300mph super-jet that can whisk passengers from London to New York in 90 minutes
VIRGIN Galactic has unveiled plans for a new super-jet that could whisk passengers from London to New York in 90 minutes.
The unnamed aircraft, to be developed in collaboration with Rolls Royce, will fly at 60,000ft (18,000m) and hit a top speed of 2,300mph (3,700kph).
That's fast enough to cross the Atlantic in a third of the time it takes a commercial airliner, or zip from the UK to Sydney in under six hours.
Up to 19 passengers will fit on one of the high-tech planes, though no date has been set for a maiden voyage – or even a test flight.
Virgin Galactic had previously announced it was working with Nasa on a supersonic vehicle. The designs were finally revealed on Monday.
";We are excited to ... unveil this initial design concept of a high speed aircraft," said Virgin Galactic Chief Space Officer George Whitesides.
"We envision [the vehicle] blending safe and reliable commercial travel with an unrivalled customer experience."
Virgin Galactic said its designs were released following the completion of a concept review with help from Nasa.
The firm announced a partnership with Rolls Royce to design and develop the craft's engines. Rolls Royce previously developed the Concorde's engine.
Once completed, the vehicle will travel at speeds of Mach 3 – three times the speed of sound or roughly 2,301mph.
That's faster than the average cruising speed of Mach 2 achieved by the original Concorde, the first supersonic passenger-carrying aircraft.
A cabin large enough for between nine and 19 people would offer Business or First Class seating arrangements.
Virgin Galactic said it will now work with the Federal Aviation Administration to create a framework for certifying the aircraft for flight.
"We have made great progress so far, and we look forward to opening up a new frontier in high speed travel," Mr Whitesides said.
Virgin Galactic – Key dates
2004: Branson founds Virgin Galactic and says the first launch will take place in 2007
2007: Testing of SpaceShipTwo but three workers die in an explosion during the event. The $250m spaceport, Spaceport America is agreed to be built in New Mexico
2008: Sir Richard says the first voyage will take place within 18 months
2009: Sir Richard says that flights will take place from Spaceport America within two years
2010: Virgin Galactic hire Nasa’s chief of staff, George Whitesides, as its new chief executive
2014: Sir Richard predicts the first commercial flight will take place in early 2015. A fatal accident occurs during a test launch of SpaceShipTwo
2016: Test flights of SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, continue
2018: VSS Unity coasted through the black sky and into space, making history as the first human spaceflight to be launched from American soil since the final Space Shuttle mission in 2011. SpaceShipTwo landed from her maiden spaceflight on December 13, 2018
2019: On February 22, Virgin Galactic reached space for the second time in ten weeks with three people on board, reaching three times the speed of sound on the way up
2019: Virgin Galactic drops a space rocket from custom Boeing 747 over California in first successful "launch" test on July 11
Space-tourism firm Virgin Galactic, headed up by Brit billionaire Richard Branson, is best-know for its efforts to get paying passengers to space.
The company has been hit by multiple delays down the years, but in 2018 managed its first flight to the edge of space – though no tourists were on board.
Virgin Galactic is charging customers a rumoured $250,000 (£175,000) a ticket for a few minutes of weightlessness on one of its early flights.
Its SpaceShipTwo space plane will soar 60 miles (97 km) above the Earth's surface before landing at a spaceport in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Most read in Science
In other news, Virgin Galactic last week revealed the cabin of its rocket plane that will one day take tourists to space.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s Crew Dragon spaceship brought Nasa astronauts home from the ISS over the weekend.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Musk announced last month that SpaceX's mission to get man on Mars is now the company's "top priority".
What do you think of Virgin Galactic's plans? Let us know in the comments!
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at [email protected]