China tests the first “hypersonic plane”

China has announced the creation of a prototype jet aircraft that was able to reach hypersonic speeds (Mach 5 and above) during flight tests. Interesting Engineering writes about this.

Designers claim that the prototype aircraft with a fairly large body reached a speed of Mach 6.56 (approximately 5,033 miles per hour) during a test flight in 2021. The results of the test flight have so far been kept secret by engineers and Chinese authorities due to the secrecy of the project. Now, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has officially announced the success.

Project leader Cui Kai said that he and his team presented the concept of a hypersonic aircraft back in 2013. At the time, the team claimed that the aircraft would be able to transport passengers and cargo from Beijing to New York in two hours – significantly less than the approximately 13 hours it takes to travel on a commercial flight today.

According to a press release from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it took Cui and his team nearly three years to create the concept. Then in 2018, several reports emerged that Cui's team had developed a jet design that could travel at hypersonic speeds.

The engineers were able to secure approval for a test flight of a prototype hypersonic aircraft in 2021, which took place in the Gobi Desert in northwest China in August of that year. The test flight lasted 20 minutes.

Tsuy says his team still has several issues to work out, related to “power, materials and design.”