Inspenet, July 26, 2023.
The Swiss company Destinus is working on an experimental model of a hydrogen-powered hypersonic aircraft that could fly at five times the speed of sound with the aim of reducing flight times.
This was founded by the Russian physicist and serial entrepreneur Mikhail Kokorich and is concentrating its efforts on the development of this prototype airplane that uses hydrogen as fuel and has the capacity to reach speeds of Mach 5 or more, that is, more than 6,000 km/h.
This means you could go from Germany to Australia in just over 4 hours or from London to New York in just 90 minutes.
To achieve these speeds, the aircraft would operate at altitudes above 50 km, in the highest part of the Earth’s atmosphere, where drag is significantly lower. It would also use hydrogen turbojet engines for takeoff and landing and a separate ramjet rocket engine to achieve extremely high speeds.
Destinus ensures that the plane would not generate carbon emissions , since it would release only heat and water vapor.
According to Kokorich’s plan, the first Destinus aircraft, with the capacity to carry 25 passengers over distances of up to 7,500 km, will be ready by the end of this decade. The company then plans to develop progressively larger aircraft, with seating for 100 passengers or more.
For the past few years, the company has been carrying out flight tests with its prototype aircraft and last year announced successful test flights of its second prototype, the Eiger, at an airport near Munich.
The company also recently obtained two grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science for a total value of 27 million euros . The first grant of €12 million will help finance the development of a hydrogen engine test facility near Madrid, where the company’s prototype aircraft will be tested; while the second grant, of 15 million euros, will finance research into propulsion systems powered by liquid hydrogen.
“We are delighted that they have granted us these grants, especially since they are a clear sign that Destinus is aligned with the strategic lines of Spain and Europe to advance in hydrogen flight”, declared Davide Bonetti, Vice President of Business Development and Destinus Products.
The development of the hypersonic aircraft still has challenges to face
Hydrogen-powered aircraft are at an early stage of development and have faced various challenges since their inception. Liquid hydrogen has a density four times less than aviation fuel, which implies the need for larger fuel tanks and four times more storage capacity on board.
Furthermore, hydrogen is currently about 20 times more expensive than conventional aviation fuel and is unlikely to become competitively priced this decade. Likewise, international airports should build hydrogen infrastructure from scratch to accommodate the new aircraft, an effort they will hardly carry out without guarantees of profitability.
The situation is further complicated by trying to bring these aircraft to hypersonic speeds. Although successful trials of hypersonic flight have already been conducted, such as NASA’s X-43 experimental unmanned aircraft in 2004, which reached Mach 9.6, commercial travel at these speeds is still a long way from being viable. Technical challenges and an incomplete understanding of how to build aircraft capable of withstanding the intense heat at those speeds are major hurdles.
Despite these challenges, investors remain interested in hypersonic technology, and private equity funds are investing heavily in startups in the sector. Even airlines are joining the race for superspeed, such as American Airlines, which has pledged to buy Overture Jets developed by startup Boom Supersonic.
The researchers are also working to overcome technical hurdles. For example, scientists at Melbourne’s RMIT University have developed 3D-printed catalysts that could power hypersonic flight and act as cooling agents to combat the extreme heat generated during flight.
Although reality presents challenges, interest and efforts to achieve hypersonic technology continue to continue.
Loading...
