Scientists in China have announced that a jumbo jet prototype built by them had managed to reach hypersonic speeds (Mach 5 and above) during a flight test.

The scientists claim that the aircraft prototype with a rather bulky body reached the speed of Mach 6.56 (5,033 miles per hour approximately) during the test flight in 2021.

The test flight results had been kept a secret by the institute and authorities in China owing to the sensitivity of the project.

It was revealed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences through a post on social media in which they shared a video of the jumbo jet prototype’s lift-off. The post also contained a speech by Cui Kai, the project’s leader and a researcher at the Institute of Mechanics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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The speech was from an event in Beijing held in October in which Cui had revealed the test results and the process which his team followed.

Hypersonic travel could be made possible?

Earlier in 2013, Cai and his team had revealed a conceptual configuration of the jumbo jet aircraft which they predicted would be able to fly at hypersonic speeds.

Back then, the team had stated that the plane would be able to ferry passengers and cargo from Beijing to New York in two hours – a significant reduction from the approximately over 13 hours it takes for the trip on a commercial flight.

According to a press release from the Chinese Academy of Sciences it had taken Cui and his team almost three years to come up with it.

Then in 2018, several reports surfaced that Cui’s team had been able to come up with the design of the jet that could travel at hypersonic speeds.

One of the most interesting facts about this new design was that it steered away from the general slim concepts for hypersonic vehicles that were surfacing around the globe.

It is important to mention that aircraft like the Concorde have shown the world that supersonic speed commercial flights are possible. But hypersonic planes would require pushing the technology to the brink.

The test flight and remaining challenges

According to the latest report by the South China Morning Post, Cui’s team had been able to seek permission for the test flight of the hypersonic airplane prototype in 2021.

They carried out the test flight at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert of northwest China in August 2021.

The SCMP report describes Cui stating that it was a 20-minute test flight but it addressed a big problem for aircraft designers.

The problem was that the usable interior space of the aircraft had to be decreased as the flight speed of the vehicle decreased.

Several hypersonic vessels in use today have restricted internal space, meaning they can mostly be used for missiles, unmanned reconnaissance missions, and other military uses.

In the SCMP report, Cui is quoted as saying that his design was received with much skepticism when it was first unveiled.

However, the team conducted several experiments a number of times to validate each uncertainty associated with the project before the final test flight.

However, Cui or the Chinese Academy of Sciences did not reveal whether a full-scale model of the aircraft has been constructed, is under construction, or the time period for its first flight.

Cui is quoted as saying in the report that the team still faces multiple challenges that need to be addressed directly – “including issues related to power, materials and structure.”

Earlier in 2022, the National Natural Science Foundation of China had approved an unspecified funding to support the development of of civilian hypersonic flight technology.

However, no matter how long it takes, if the team succeeds in building and flying an actual aircraft of a jumbo-jet size at hypersonic speeds it would be a big leap forward towards unlocking ultra-short travel through the air.

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