Virgin Galactic to design Mach-3 plane that flies three times faster than speed of sound

With a speed, three times faster than the speed of sound, and a streamlined body designed for high-speed space travel, Virgin Galactic space tourism company on August 3 unveiled a new generation delta-wing aircraft for space travel. The first stage design scope of Mach-3 jet has been created by the aerospace firm in collaboration with Rolls Royce. In a statement, the firm revealed that the high-speed commercial aircraft follows the completion of the Mission Concept Review (“MCR”) program milestone and authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration’s (“FAA”) Center for Emerging Concepts and Innovation to go ahead with certification framework. 

With a focus on customer experience and environmental sustainability, the company has set the super-fast jet’s capacity between nine to 19 people at an altitude of over 60,000 feet. Rolls Royce delivered Concorde a high Mach propulsion jet, the first-ever commercial aircraft capable of supersonic flight, as per the aerospace travel company. 

Rolls-Royce North America Chairman & CEO Tom Bell said, “We are excited to partner with Virgin Galactic and TSC to explore the future of sustainable high-speed flight.” He added, “Rolls-Royce brings a unique history in high-speed propulsion, going back to the Concorde, and offers world-class technical capabilities to develop and field the advanced propulsion systems needed to power commercially available high-Mach travel.” 

Chief Space Officer of Virgin Galactic, George Whitesides said, We are excited to complete the Mission Concept Review and unveil this initial design concept of a high-speed aircraft, which we envision as blending safe and reliable commercial travel with unrivaled customer experience.

He added that the firm collaborated with Rolls-Royce to develop sustainable, cutting-edge propulsion systems for the aircraft.

Further, Whitesides said that the company was also working closely with the FAA to ensure the design made practical impacts. “We have made great progress so far, and we look forward to opening up a new frontier in high-speed travel,” he said. Virgin Galactic’s Mission Concept Review includes representatives from NASA who had signed a Space Act Agreement with Virgin Galactic to collaborate on high-speed technologies.

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[A Concorde capable of supersonic flight. Image: Virgingalactic.com]

Certified delta-wing and sustainable technologies

Aircraft’s basic parameters included certified delta-wing with Business or First-Class seating arrangements with custom cabin layouts. With sustainable aviation fuel systems, aircraft design lists sustainable technologies and techniques to be used which will be looked up to by the aviation community in the future. While the aircraft would take off and land like any other passenger aircraft and be expected to integrate into existing airport infrastructure and international airspace worldwide, it will perform a range of operations for long-distance commercial aviation routes to make high speed travel practical. 

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