When talking about forward-thinking, Aerospace companies Virgin Galactic often gets shoved to the side by the likes of SpaceX and Blue Origin. Billionaire Richard Branson has been flying under the radar while Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos battle it out to be the king of space travel. But with a recent reveal, it looks like the tables are about to take a turn.
While SpaceX and Blue Origin focus most of their attention on full-scale rocket ships, Virgin Galactic is working towards something that flies just a little bit closer to the surface of the earth. On August 3, 2020 Virgin Galactic unveiled plans to build a brand new supersonic passenger jet. One that will fly at sixty thousand feet and travel at speeds as fast as Mach 3. The Delta Wing aircraft will have enough on board room to carry 9 to 19 people and will benefit from a fully customizable cabin that can be transformed from a simple seating arrangement into first-class suites.
For those of you who are not familiar, Virgin Galactic is first and foremost a space tourism company built around the concept of sending paying customers right to the edge of Space and back. In their innovative spaceship two aircraft for years now the company has been discussing the idea of developing that same technology into an ultra-high speed sub-orbital point-to-point travel solution, however this new passenger jet has taken them down a completely different route. Virgin Galactic says that the idea behind their prospective Mach 3 commercial jet is to make supersonic travel practical sustainable and safe without compromising on the flying experience for its customers.
What is the History of High Speed Air Travel
Supersonic passenger jets are by no means anything new, many of you will remember the Concorde, a supersonic airplane that first took to the skies way back in 1969. Concorde flew commercially from 1976 to 2003 before being permanently retired but unfortunately we haven't seen anything like it ever since. You could think of Virgin Galactic's new jet as the next generation of Concorde but in reality these planes are different beasts entirely. Concorde flew at speeds of Mach 2 and was way ahead of its time but the ride was filled with turbulence and there were a lot of concerns surrounding safety especially after a flight crashed in 2000 killing 113 people. Virgin Galactic's supersonic jet will be a whole lot faster, safer and more comfortable thanks to the great aviation developments that have and will continue to take place in both jet propulsion and materials.
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Engine and Specifications of the Virgin Galactic Supersonic Jet.
In a hope to bring their concept to life Virgin Galactic has partnered with Rolls Royce, the luxury car maker who also builds some of the world's finest jet engines. They've also teamed up with NASA who doesn't really need any introductions. Together they plan to build a jet that will mark the new age in commercial travel. Now despite airplanes getting bigger and offering more luxury services, they haven't been getting any faster. They've actually been getting slower to save on fuel costs.
On a regular passenger jet, a flight from London to New York takes approximately seven and a half hours flying at speeds of a little over 500 miles per hour. The same flight on a Virgin Galactic Mach 3 jet on the other hand will take less than 90 minutes thanks to the airplane traveling at three times the speed of sound which is around 2300 miles per hour. Virgin Galactic has not offered any sort of time frame as to when their supersonic jet will be built and actually be ready to take to the skies but at least they've got the ball rolling.
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Ticket Prices of the Mach 3 Jet.
In 2021 Virgin Galactic sent Richard Branson up into space kickstarting their commercial ventures. The ticket on the spaceship 2 will initially cost 250000 although Branson said he would like to see this drop over the next decade or so. Projected ticket prices for a flight on the Mac 3 supersonic jet are yet to be disclosed however they will undoubtedly be a lot cheaper flights on the jet will certainly be exclusive to start with.
The hope is that the price will eventually come down to that of a regular commercial ticket as it stands Virgin Galactic isn't exactly a direct competitor of either SpaceX or Blue Origin but if all proves successful, the company will soon become an established player in the ultra fast international travel market. An industry that Musk and Bezos have both spoken about entering. Could Richard Branson become the third man in the billionaire's feud? Comment down your thoughts below and don’t forget to share this post with your tech savvy friends who might accompany you in one of these Mach 3 flights in the near future.
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