A Chinese firm with its headquarters in Beijing announced that it has tested the prototype of a commercial transport plane that can travel at almost double the speed of the world’s first supersonic passenger-carrying airplane – the Concorde.

Space Transportation, which is known as Lingkong Tianxing Technology, in China has announced the successful test flight of its Yunxing prototype plane. According to the company’s claims, the plane can fly at speeds of Mach 4 or roughly 3069 miles per hour.

The company is planning to conduct a follow-up test of its engine in the coming month, according to a report by the South China Morning Post (SCMP). It also plans to have a full-sized supersonic jet ready to take its first flight in the year 2027.

China’s supersonic jet and Concorde’s legacy

The Concorde had broken all records for supersonic passenger travel when it debuted. Designed and built by Sud Aviation – which later became a part of Aerospatiale (now Airbus) of France and the British Aircraft Corporation, it is still talked about as one of the masterpieces of aviation technology.

The Concorde was the first turbojet-powered supersonic airliner to enter service flying passengers across the Atlantic at twice the speed of sound. Using Rolls-Royce Olympus engines, the aircraft could reach a maximum speed of 1,330 miles per hour.

The Chinese firm now aims to break this record by introducing a commercial plane that can fly at Mach 4 speed. The SCMP report mentions that the company claims to complete a trip between Beijing to New York in around two hours using the new plane.

The new aircraft prototype designed by Space Transportation also has other interesting features. These include the ability to take off and land vertically and to fly at heights of about 65,600 feet (20,000 meters).

Space Transportation and its new plane

Space Transportation designs and manufactures space transport systems intended to reduce space exploration costs. It was founded in 2018 by Yudong Wang, and in 2021 it had raised Series A funding.

In May 2022, Lingkong Tianxing successfully completed the Yao-10 flight mission of the Tianxing I rocket.

The company has a full-system design, and research and development capabilities in the field of hypersonic aircraft and rockets.

It also has experience in the full-process design of flight test project load analysis and calculation, modal analysis, force environment identification analysis, structural force transmission path planning, pre-design strength prediction, structural design, strength verification, strength testing, and environmental testing, according to its website.

The SCMP report mentions that the company tested the Yunxing supersonic jet on several parameters, including its aerodynamics, thermal protection, and control systems