Can you imagine being able to travel from Los Angeles to Tokyo in less than three hours? It seems crazy, but the leader in supersonic flight, Aerion, is already working to make it a reality.
The company will try to reduce a flight that lasts more than 11 hours, with stopovers, into a trip that can last about two and a half hours. And, for this, has launched this Friday the first model of its next aircraft: the commercial aircraft AS3 Mach 4+, which could be ready for its first takeoff later this decade.
As indicated by the portal Aerospace, The company seeks to leverage the AS2 supersonic commercial aircraft to bring Aerion innovation to commercial air travel, taking a revolutionary big step in the freight industry.
The concept and design of this new aircraft has been launched thanks to the contributions of potential customers, with whom aims to revolutionize technology, improve efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of supersonic flight.
Production of its first release will not begin until 2023
Its objective – and capacity – is to transport up to 50 passengers in a range of 13,000 kilometers. In addition, to accelerate the implementation of this high-speed commercial flight, the company expanded its partnership with NASA’s Langley Research Center.
“At Aerion, our vision is to build a future in which humanity can travel between two points on our planet in three hours. Supersonic flight is the starting point, but it is just that: the beginning. To truly revolutionize global mobility as we know it today, we must push the boundaries of what is possible,” said Aerion President and CEO Tom Vice.
“The AS3 forms the next step in our long-term technology roadmap and will bring Aerion’s high Mach flight capacity to a wider audience. We look forward to sharing more about our design later this year ”, he added.
The production of what will be its first launch, the supersonic commercial aircraft AS2, will be in 2023 and until the end of this year the company will not give more details about the Aerion AS3.