Technical Details
The Japanese space agency JAXA has successfully tested a Mach 5 engine. During the tests, specialists simulated flight at a speed of around 6100 km/h — this is approximately five times faster than the speed of sound. At this mode, the skin temperature reaches almost 1000°C: a regular plane in similar conditions would simply not withstand the loads.
Background and Context
The project is based on a hydrogen scramjet engine. Unlike conventional aircraft engines, it has no compressors: air is compressed due to the enormous flight speed. This scheme is especially effective at hypersonic speeds, although it requires preliminary acceleration of the apparatus to very high speeds.
Industry Impact
The potential of such technologies looks impressive. Theoretically, an aircraft capable of stably flying at Mach 5 could cover the Tokyo — New York route in approximately 1 hour 45 minutes. For comparison: even promising supersonic liners like Boom Overture are designed for a speed of around Mach 1.7.