Why The World’s 1st Hydrogen-Powered Hypersonic Jet Could Fly At 12 Times The Speed Of Sound

An aircraft running on hydrogen that races through the upper atmosphere at speeds exceeding twelve times the speed of sound might seem like a fantasy reserved exclusively for science fiction. That, however, is the promise behind the Australian Hypersonix Launch Systems’ DART AE demonstrator, a small and uncrewed vehicle that is built around the SPARTAN scramjet, a completely new kind of engine. The immediate objective of this development program is not to make this aircraft a vehicle for passenger travel.