China builds hypersonic jet based on design rejected by NASA 20 years ago
Technology
Beijing wants to create a fleet of hypersonic planes capable of flying 10 people by 2035.
(Web Desk) – Chinese scientists have successfully built and trialled a hypersonic plane that can fly five times faster than the speed of sound and is based on a prototype rejected by NASA 20 years ago.
According to the Chinese media reports, the test marks another breakthrough for Beijing in the global race to develop cutting edge weapons technology.
Beijing wants to create a fleet of hypersonic planes capable of flying 10 people anywhere in the world within an hour by 2035.
The engine is based on a design of a Two-Stage Vehicle (TSV) X-plane by Chinese-born Ming Han Tang who was the chief engineer of NASA’s early hypersonic program in the late 1990s.
Blueprints for the US prototype were declassified in 2011 and the design was adopted by Chinese scientists leading the China’s hypersonic weapons program.
The research team who successfully tested the hypersonic plane were from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and were featured in the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
