Hypersonic pioneer: the X-43A

Introduction

Imagine flying from New York to Tokyo in two hours flat. Imagine a cruise missile travelling faster than a rifle bullet; imagine cheap and efficient space transport. For more than forty years people have been trying to design an aircraft that could deliver such performance. NASA's scramjet-powered X-43A has brought these goals a huge step closer to reality. On 16 November 2004 the unmanned aircraft briefly flew at a staggering 6 800 mph (11 000 km/h), smashing all previous speed records and beginning a new era in aviation development. The X-43A proved that hypersonic flight, at speeds faster than 3 700 mph (6 000 km/h), is possible and that scramjets are workable engines with enormous potential. Although NASA has completed its scramjet tests, the Australians have taken the lead and flew a scramjet in March 2006, just one of three planned.

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