In each of the images in this news item you can see the Darkstar aircraft designed by Lockheeed Martin for the film Top Gun: Maverick. It wouldn’t be a spoiler to say that Tom Cruise’s character at the beginning of the film was able to accelerate the plane to Mach 10 (12,348 km/). Venus Aerospace wants to build a passenger airliner that can fly at nearly that speed.

Here’s What We Know

Boom Supersonic will be able to accelerate to Mach 1.7 (2099.16 km/h), while Concorde had a top speed of Mach 2 (2469.6 km/h). The fastest aircraft in history is the Lockheed Martin SR-71 Blackbird at Mach 3.2 (3951.36 km/h).

Venus Aerospace has set an ambitious goal of making an airliner capable of accelerating to Mach 9 (11,113.2 km/h). The flight will take place at an altitude of 50 km (space begins at 100 km). It will ascend there in 10 minutes using a rocket engine.

Venus Aerospace’s promising Jet-A and hydrogen peroxide-powered aircraft will carry up to 12 passengers. The company wants to operate four flights daily. Specialists have already forced a mixture of Jet-A and hydrogen peroxide to detonate.

The aircraft will be equipped with a rotary detonation engine. The propulsion system is in the development phase and in order not to waste time, Venus Aerospace has begun testing the drones. The aim is to decide on the shape of the new aircraft.

The company has already created and tested a drone that is 1.5 metres long. By the end of the year, it wants to complete development of a supersonic 2.4-metre drone. The first UAV with a rotary detonation engine is due in 2024. It will be able to reach a speed of Mach 3 (3,704.4 km/h).