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Virgin Galactic plans to build Mach-3 capable commercial plane: All you need to know

NEW DELHI: Space tourism company Virgin Galactic on Monday announced a partnership with engine-maker Rolls-Royce to build a supersonic commercial airplane that flies at three times the speed of sound.


  • The aircraft would travel at Mach 3 — rather than the Mach 2 speed of Concorde, the pioneering jet that operated from 1976 to 2003.
  • Virgin Galactic has signed a non-binding MoU with Rolls-Royce to collaborate in designing and developing engine propulsion technology for high speed commercial aircraft.
  • The basic parameters of the initial high speed aircraft design include a targeted Mach 3 certified delta-wing aircraft that would have capacity for 9 to 19 people at an altitude above 60,000 feet
  • The jet would also be able to incorporate custom cabin layouts to address customer needs, including Business or First Class seating arrangements.
  • The aircraft design also aims to help lead the way toward use of state-of-the-art sustainable aviation fuel.
  • The design philosophy of the aircraft is geared around making high speed travel practical, sustainable, safe, and reliable, while making customer experience a top priority.
  • The aircraft would take off and land like any other passenger aircraft and be expected to integrate into existing airport infrastructure and international airspace around the world.
  • Virgin Galactic's main focus this far has been its part-plane, part-rocket craft that is being developed to carry tourists to the edge of space.
  • It is awaiting more test flights, and no launch date for commercial journeys has been set.
  • The company, which was listed on the stock exchange last year, is seeking to diversify and in May it announced an agreement with Nasa to develop high-speed technology.
  • Nasa has also been working for decades on a silent supersonic experimental aircraft, the X-59. A prototype is being built by Lockheed-Martin in California.
  • The project hopes to make the supersonic boom — the explosion caused by crossing the sound barrier — almost inaudible on the ground.
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