From Space.com
The private spaceflight company Virgin Galactic and Rolls-Royce have teamed up to create a supersonic jet for high-speed passenger flights.
The Spaceship Company (TSC), Virgin Galactic's aerospace-system manufacturing arm that builds the company's SpaceShipTwo space planes, is now working to develop a high-speed commercial aircraft capable of flying at Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound.
Today (Aug. 3), TSC announced the completion of a mission concept review and unveiled the initial design concept for a high-speed aircraft. They also announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding with Rolls-Royce to collaborate in design and development for the craft.
Rolls-Royce might seem like an odd choice, but the company, known for its luxury cars, previously developed the turbojet that powered the famed supersonic airliner the Concorde, which flew at Mach 2.04, or just over twice the speed of sound.
Concorde certainly isn't the only commercial supersonic jet for TSC's ambitious aircraft to contend with.
Boom Technology, which partnered with Virgin Galactic in 2017, has been developing the XB-1, their supersonic vehicle, set to debut Oct. 7. Spike Aerospace is also developing a supersonic business jet. Meanwhile, NASA and Lockheed Martin are developing the X-59 X-plane, a supersonic jet aimed at quieting sonic booms. All these projects follow in the high-speed footsteps of the Concorde, which flew from 1969 to 2003, the Soviet supersonic passenger airliner Tupolev Tu-144 flew from 1968 to 1999.
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Virgin Galactic has experience building suborbital supersonic aircraft, with its SpaceShip 1 & 2, which in fact can't reach orbit. And with SpaceX's rapid progress, it must be obvious to Richard Branson that the potential market for space tourism will be dominated by SpaceX.
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