🇬🇧 英国希望伦敦到悉尼只需3小时

这款飞机名为Invictus，由欧洲航天局建造，并得到英国航天局的支持，它旨在达到5马赫时速，超过3800英里/小时，是音速的5倍。

它像普通喷气式飞机一样水平起飞，爬升到大气边缘约8万英尺的高度，然后飞回家中重复使用。

标题忽略了这里的部分。它目前还只是一个设计，首架飞机是为发射卫星和测试国防技术而建，而不是搭载度假游客。

主要承包商Frazer-Nash的空间业务发展经理詹姆斯·科尼什表示，它验证的技术有朝一日可能让长途旅行变得更快。

时间表也很长。今年完成设计，首飞可能在2034年以较慢速度进行，到2036年实现真正的超音速飞行。如果成功，它将打破SR-71黑鸟号作为有史以来最快、最高空有人驾驶喷气机的纪录。

最大的问题是高温，这种速度会融化发动机，因此他们使用预冷氢系统，在几分之一秒内冷却过热空气。

协和飞机飞悉尼需要17小时，并在2003年退役，这款飞机承诺只需3小时，但首架真正飞行的将是卫星发射器，它不会带你去任何地方。

来源：Telegraph / 作者：Daniyal

🇬🇧 Britain wants London to Sydney in 3 hours

The plane is called Invictus, built by the European Space Agency and backed by the UK Space Agency, and it's meant to hit Mach 5, over 3,800 mph, 5 times the speed of sound.

It takes off horizontally like a normal jet, climbs to about 80,000 feet at the edge of the atmosphere, then flies home to be reused.

Here's the part the headline skips. It's still just a design, and the first one is built for launching satellites and testing defence tech, not carrying holidaymakers.

James Cornish, space business development manager at prime contractor Frazer-Nash, says the tech it proves could one day make long-haul travel far faster.

And the timeline is long. Design wraps this year, a first flight maybe by 2034 at slower speeds, true hypersonic by 2036. Pull it off and it beats the SR-71 Blackbird's record for the fastest, highest-flying manned jet ever.

The big problem is heat, going this fast melts the engine, so they're using a pre-cooled hydrogen system that chills superheated air in a fraction of a second.

Concorde did Sydney in 17 hours and was gone by 2003, this one promises 3, but the first thing to actually fly is a satellite launcher that won't take you anywhere.

Source: Telegraph / Writer: Daniyal