Space tech meets aviation: The hypersonic revolution

By Miquel Ros, for CNN
5 minute read
Updated 9:47 AM EDT, Mon July 4, 2016
SART researchers at the Institute of Space Systems in Bremen, Germany, have come up with the SpaceLiner concept. This hypersonic jet would be made up of a booster and a passenger stage, which separate after being propelled into the mesophere.
SpaceLiner —
SART researchers at the Institute of Space Systems in Bremen, Germany, have come up with the SpaceLiner concept. This hypersonic jet would be made up of a booster and a passenger stage, which separate after being propelled into the mesophere.
Courtesy of the German Aerospace Center (DLR)
This model shows what the two-stage SpaceLiner would look like before take-off. The concept is the result of 10 years of research, and the team estimate that the jet could reach speeds of Mach 25 -- that's 25 times the speed of sound.
10 years of ongoing research —
This model shows what the two-stage SpaceLiner would look like before take-off. The concept is the result of 10 years of research, and the team estimate that the jet could reach speeds of Mach 25 -- that's 25 times the speed of sound.
Courtesy of the German Aerospace Center (DLR)
After reaching a maximum altitude of about 80 kilometers, the SpaceLiner's passenger stage would commence a gliding descent towards its destination. Although most processes would be fully automated, there would still be two pilots at the helm.
Passenger stage in descent —
After reaching a maximum altitude of about 80 kilometers, the SpaceLiner's passenger stage would commence a gliding descent towards its destination. Although most processes would be fully automated, there would still be two pilots at the helm.
Courtesy of the German Aerospace Center (DLR)
The Skreemr concept design sparked debate recently. It would supposedly travel at speeds as fast as Mach 10, reaching New York from London in 30 minutes.
Skreemr —
The Skreemr concept design sparked debate recently. It would supposedly travel at speeds as fast as Mach 10, reaching New York from London in 30 minutes.
Ray Mattison/Courtesy Charles Bombardier
Earlier this year, a team from Bristol University in England developed technology that could repair cracks on an aircraft in a similar way that human skin heals. The researchers say it could be introduced in five to ten years.
Self-healing planes —
Earlier this year, a team from Bristol University in England developed technology that could repair cracks on an aircraft in a similar way that human skin heals. The researchers say it could be introduced in five to ten years.
MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP/Getty Images
Also in 2015, Errikos Levis of Imperial London College designed a concept for a family of transatlantic seaplanes that could carry up to 2,000 passengers. The plane would feature a blended wing body, and the engine would live on top of the plane.
Transatlantic seaplane —
Also in 2015, Errikos Levis of Imperial London College designed a concept for a family of transatlantic seaplanes that could carry up to 2,000 passengers. The plane would feature a blended wing body, and the engine would live on top of the plane.
Courtesy Errikos Levis/Imperial College London
In 2015, designer and aviation enthusiast Oscar Vinals designed a triple-decker concept plane called the AWWA Progress Eagle, which he imagined carrying up to 800 passengers and running on solar power and hydrogen.
Progress Eagle —
In 2015, designer and aviation enthusiast Oscar Vinals designed a triple-decker concept plane called the AWWA Progress Eagle, which he imagined carrying up to 800 passengers and running on solar power and hydrogen.
Oscar Vinals
Vinals designed the Skywhale in 2014. The imagined aircraft came equipped with self-repairing wings, large windows, a vertical takeoff ability and room for 755 passengers.
Skywhale —
Vinals designed the Skywhale in 2014. The imagined aircraft came equipped with self-repairing wings, large windows, a vertical takeoff ability and room for 755 passengers.
Alejandro Erickson/Oscar Viñal
In 2014 British design company Hybrid Air Vehicles brought airships back in fashion with a design for the Airlander 10, a 92-meter-long airship filled with helium.
Airlander —
In 2014 British design company Hybrid Air Vehicles brought airships back in fashion with a design for the Airlander 10, a 92-meter-long airship filled with helium.
Courtesy Hybrid Air Vehicles
Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has floated the idea of a futuristic plane with a transparent cabin, holographic pop-up gaming displays and seats that change in size and shape to fit each passenger. They've hinted that such a plane could be in the skies by 2050.
Airbus concept plane —
Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has floated the idea of a futuristic plane with a transparent cabin, holographic pop-up gaming displays and seats that change in size and shape to fit each passenger. They've hinted that such a plane could be in the skies by 2050.
Courtesy Airbus
In 2014, Spike Aerospace announced plans for what the world's first supersonic business jet, one capable of breaking the sound barrier, and traveling at Mach 1.8. The S-512 supersonic jet would have no windows (to decrease drag). Instead, the cabin would be lined with screens that could display the landscape outside.
Windowless supersonic jet —
In 2014, Spike Aerospace announced plans for what the world's first supersonic business jet, one capable of breaking the sound barrier, and traveling at Mach 1.8. The S-512 supersonic jet would have no windows (to decrease drag). Instead, the cabin would be lined with screens that could display the landscape outside.
Spike Aerospace
Futuristic planes
CNN  — 

London to Melbourne in 90 minutes? Paris to San Francisco in under an hour?

That’s travel at 25 times the speed of sound – or barely enough time to take in an in-flight movie.

Few areas of aviation generate wilder predictions than hypersonic flight – but a team in Germany might just have cracked it.

Hypersonic means speeds of Mach 5 or over, or more than five times the speed of sound. Supersonic is Mach 1, or the speed of sound.

Since the withdrawal of the Concorde in 2003, commercial aviation has remained purely subsonic, but that could change in the coming decades.

Take new aircraft concepts like the Japanese HYTEX, capable of speeds of Mach 5, or the European Lapcat-II, expected to reach Mach 8.

Then there’s the nascent space tourism industry, with companies such as Virgin Galactic and XCOR Aerospace hoping to take a select few on leisure trips to the edge of space.

Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are taking their own approach.

A team has applied space technology principles to propose what is possibly the world’s most advanced hypersonic airliner concept to date.

The SpaceLiner

The result of 10 years of ongoing research by the Space Launcher Systems Analysis (SART) department at the Institute of Space Systems in Bremen, the SpaceLiner is a revolutionary hypersonic spaceplane concept capable of flying some 50 passengers across the