If you thought Virgin Galactic was only working on a swanky new spaceship, think again. The carrier is also working on a new supersonic jet that promises a cruising speed 50% faster than Concorde.
Virgin Galactic Unveils New Supersonic Jet
Virgin announced plans to work with Rolls-Royce to develop an aircraft that will travel at Mach 3 at a flight level of 60,000 fleet, 50% faster than the cruising speed of Concorde. Such an aircraft will theoretically travel between New York and London in 90 minutes or Sydney and London in five hours. Unlike Concorde, which held up to 128 passengers, this aircraft would only hold 9-19 people. Virgin mentions the aircraft “would also be able to incorporate custom cabin layouts to address customer needs, including Business or First Class seating arrangements.”
Virgin recently completed a “Mission Concept Review” with National Aeronatuics and Space Administration (NASA) on the aircraft and design. Now, Virgin will work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on how it will certify the aircraft for flight.
George Whitesides, Chief Space Officer at Virgin Galactic 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 an unrivalled customer experience. We are pleased to collaborate with the innovative team at Rolls-Royce as we strive to develop sustainable, cutting-edge propulsion systems for the aircraft, and we are pleased to be working with the FAA to ensure our designs can make a practical impact from the start. We have made great progress so far, and we look forward to opening up a new frontier in high speed travel.”
CONCLUSION
My heart races at the thought of flying SpaceShipTwo and it does for flying supersonic as well. The new aircraft design is beautiful, the technology is exciting, and I am so excited that innovation is alive and well. It has been 17 years since the last Concorde flight, far too long a gap in the supersonic history of aviation travel. Hopefully Virgin Galatic’s new design will take flight.
Wondering who would need business or first class on a 90 minute flight from NY to London. Also, 9-19 people seems way too little. I thought they were working on a technology that would fix the problems of the Concord so a supersonic commercial flight would be possible.
I agree, this seems like a tough value proposition. There are certainly people who will pay $100,000 each to cross the Atlantic in a couple of hours, but more and more of them are the ones who already have their own planes and flight crews and don’t mind relaxing for a slightly longer flight.
It might be that developing this first for a small passenger complement of superrich would serve as a good proof of concept to build a bigger aircraft that would fit more in the Concorde’s first-class and business-class slot, and could carry dozens of passengers if not a couple hundred.
I also agree.
You nailed it, Mark. Get this up and running for more boutique use and scale up as they figure things out. There is no doubt that this is the future of aviation.
Unlike the 90’s though I don’t see myself being able to use miles for this, lol. Those were the days…USAirways miles for BA Concorde flights must rank for me as the best few years ever.
Agreed with the comments above. I don’t see this being feasible with less than 20 passengers on board. But then again, has Virgin ever been concerned with viability and profitability? Lying is like breathing on Branson and Musk.
Fat Chance. Never Gonna Happen. Dream On, Suckers.
You’re in a particularly bad mood today…
I was so excited to read this article until it got to the passenger loads. I am afraid it will be built like the A380 with lots of fanfare. Then when it is actually used it will be a money loser as well. Like you Matthew I have dreams of a comeback to the Concorde. I do not see it with this version.