It could ultimately lead to two-hour jet flights from Australia to Britain. It is a prototype engine, and was launched in the South Australian outback, researchers said. It was a two million dollar (1.42 million US) test. The HyShot III test involved a scramjet engine being flown into space by a Terrier-Orion rocket. It happened before it returned to earth about 400 kilometres away from the launch pad.
The flight was projected to fly at about 8,000 kilometres (4,970 miles) per hour. The scramjet was in flight for only 10 minutes and reached an altitude of around 315 kilometers above earth. It is a supersonic combustion system capable of hypersonic flight.
University of Queensland scientist Michael Smart said, “We know that the launch was almost perfect and the rocket, from what we can tell from the radar... seemed to be on a fairly normal trajectory.”
Via: Physorg
