NASA's Supersonic Jet Will Do 2,335 Kmph, Fly From New York To Delhi In Five Hours By 2021

The US budget proposal this year included funding for a new experimental plan from NASA, one that’ll supposedly fly faster and quieter than the legendary Concorde.

The experimental airplane, known as the Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD), as part of NASA’s Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) project, is scheduled to make its first test flight as early as 2021. It’s expected to cut cross-country flight times in the US by at least half.

The goal with QueSST and the LBFD is to build commercial supersonic aircraft that won’t generate such a boom when they break the sound barrier. And NASA has been able to break the sound barrier for years, but the shockwaves and noise these aircraft cause can make operating them commercially problematic. That’s why we don’t have supersonic passenger flights available today, and also why the Concorde only flew over the ocean on its journeys.

“Future supersonic aircraft seeking to achieve a low-boom, such as NASA's LBFD, will rely on a swept wing design in order to fly at supersonic speeds without producing a loud sonic boom,” NASA officials said in a statement. “The swept wing design generally produces crossflow, which is a name for air flow disturbances that runs along the span of the wing, resulting in turbulent flow, increased drag and ultimately higher fuel consumption.”

With the added financial support from the company in the coming US budget NASA will be able to start building a full-scale LBFD right now, and even flight-testing it by 2021. But it has company too.

Commercial aerospace companies like Virgin Galactic and Boom Technology are also working on supersonic passenger jets that can travel at twice the speed of sound, or 2,335 km/h. If any of these jets begin taking passengers within the next few years, you could be travelling from Delhi to New York in just over five hours. Right now, that trip takes about 14 hours. 

You could fly to the US for lunch and still be home for Indian food at dinner. What a time to be alive!