A Chinese company is developing an 'ultra-fast' space plane that will be able to take passengers to any point on Earth by going into space and coming back down.
Named Tianxing I, the rocket takes off vertically, with a smaller passenger plane attached, until it reaches a high enough altitude, at which point the plane is detached and sent hurtling into space at about 2,600 miles per hour.
Beijing-based Space Transportation has been developing the spacecraft since 2018, and describe it as being a 'rocket with wings', with the hope of launching in 2025.
Test flights have shown the mothership rocket can take off, and land back on the ground successfully, with tests of the full spaceplane due in the coming years.
If it works, with a top speed of 2,671 miles per hour, it will be travelling twice the speed of Concorde and could get from London to New York in about an hour.
This announcement could worry some security analysts, coming months after the Chinese government spooked US officials by launching hypersonic missile tests.
A Chinese company is developing an 'ultra-fast' space plane that will be able to take passengers to any point on Earth by going into space and coming back down
Named Tianxing I, the rocket takes off vertically, with a smaller passenger plane attached, until it reaches a high enough altitude, at which point the plane is detached and sent hurtling into space at about 2,600 miles per hour
'What we are developing is a rocket with wings,' the firm said in a statement, 'which realizes high-speed point-to-point transportation'.
Details of pricing haven't been released, although they expect it to be cheaper than a rocket launch and significantly faster than a traditional plane.
In a video the firm shared on its website, passengers are seen boarding the plane attached to the rocket, which then takes off vertically from a launch pad.
The plane is separated from the rocket, which can then be seen descending back to the ground, ready to launch the next space plane.
Beijing-based Space Transportation has been developing the spacecraft since 2018, and describe it as being a 'rocket with wings', with the hope of launching in 2025
Test flights have shown the mothership rocket can take off, and land back on the ground successfully, with tests of the full spaceplane due in the coming years
In the video the plane can be seen travelling from a location in China, to its destination in Dubai, where it lands vertically and the passengers depart.
One screen in the video suggests a future version may be able to go significantly faster, completing a 4,300 mile trip in about an hour.
They plan to carry out the first full plane ground tests next year, with the first uncrewed flight in 2024, and the first crewed flight in 2025.
They are also working on an orbital version of the space plane, that could launch in 2030, and take passengers into space, where they can orbit the planet, before returning back to any point on Earth.
