A SUPERFAST drone has been flown at near-supersonic speeds thanks to a new engine that could eventually change passenger jets.
Venus Aerospace successfully completed the test flight of its drone with a “rotating detonation rocket engine.”
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The company hopes to use this type of engine to build commercial Mach 9 speed planes in the future.
Mach 9 is nine times the speed of sound which is over 6,900 miles power.
A plane traveling that fast could take you from London to San Francisco in just one hour.
“Venus Aerospace’s supersonic flight test drone successfully completed its inaugural flight and we now have a wealth of data to anchor and tweak for our next flight.
“The test successfully demonstrated flight controls, stability, one leg of the ultimate Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) propulsion system, telemetry, ground operations, and air launch. Release in comments!” the company tweeted last month.
It also posted a video of the test flight in action including the drone being dropped from a plane.
“Venus Aerospace’s supersonic flight test drone successfully completed its inaugural flight on Feb 24, 2024.
“The eight foot, 300lb drone was dropped at an altitude of 12,000 ft and accelerated to a top speed of Mach 0.9, flying for 10 miles.
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“It was powered by a hydrogen peroxide monopropellant engine at 80% thrust in order to not exceed Mach 1,” the video caption explains.
This engine technology tested is said to be 15 percent more efficient than typical rocket engines.
Hypersonic plane that reaches speeds of 3,800mph completes test flight – and could fly from London to NY in an hour
The speed of sound is around 767 miles per hour.
In comparison, the drone flew at 680 miles per hour for 10 miles.
There are already planes that can fly at the speed of sound or even faster.
However, commercial passenger flights usually fly much slower than this.
A passenger jet that could fly at nine times the speed of sound or over consistently would be groundbreaking.
That may seem super fast but it pales in comparison to the speed of light which is 186,000 miles per second.
Travelling at the speed of light – what would happen?
Here’s what you need to know…
- We use light to see and understand the world around us
- Going at the speed of light would mean it could not keep up with you
- As such, everything would go dark behind you
- Light to the sides of you would likely streak past in lots of bands of colour
- Light in front of you would arrive quicker than normal and thus appear bright and intense
- Time would appear to slow down, causing clocks to look like they’ve stopped, or planets to look like they no longer spin
- Your field of view would narrow dramatically
