Hyper-X - Flight into the Millennium

NASA Artist's impression of the Hyper-X research vehicle on its short test flight in Spring 2000 after release from it's booster rocket.

At just 12 feet long, the un-piloted prototype will be carried to 100,000ft by plane and by a Pegasus booster rocket normally used for launching satellites. It will then be released and its experimental engines ignited. Shaped like a lifting body, Hyper-X will use its unusual curved shape to scoop oxygen from the thin air and ram it at high pressure into its combustion chamber. Mixed with explosive hydrogen it will propel the craft forward at an unbelievable 2 miles per second. Code named X43 by NASA, Hyper-X will make its 700 nautical mile maiden flight at Mach 7 in the Spring of 2000. This 12 minute flight will be a one-off: the prototype is doomed to plunge into the Pacific at 300 miles an hour.

If all goes according to plan the final version of the Hyper-X will be even more impressive. It will be capable of speeds of Mach 20 to 25, fast enough to leave the Earth's atmosphere. A sub-orbital hop from New York to Tokyo will take less than an hour; London to Sydney will only be minutes more. One disadvantage of this kind of hyper speed travel will be a very loud sonic boom. The aviation authorities will have to maintain a tight environmental control.

In the future, the only limit will be the designer’s imagination. The technologies that will make these amazing vehicles possible are already available. In the early years of the new Millennium we will see developments in propulsion and avionics that will take us far beyond the limits of conventional aircraft - developments that will make the simple winged aircraft a thing of the past and change the way we fly forever.

For more information

Video: Battle for the Skies [21st Century War Machines]
Is the era of the fighter aircraft over? This documentary traces back the history and technology of the fighter aircraft, looking at some of the most famous and at whether unmanned aerial vehicles are the future for battles in the sky.

Video: Stealth vs. SAM [21st Century War Machines]
In warfare, if an aircraft is going to drop a bomb it needs to land on a precisely identified military target. What types of aircraft will be using further into the 21st Century to ensure that the most appropriate weapon reaches a well-identified target in the least time possible?