[imagesource: Virgin Galactic]

The last time we checked in on Richard Branson’s Virgin empire it was taking a beating due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its far-reaching effects on businesses worldwide.

Branson had a plan to turn things around, and for the time being, seems to be on the right track.

He’s also not letting his financial struggles interfere with the pursuit of one of his self-described “obsessions” – supersonic flight.

Branson, and his space-oriented company Virgin Galactic, has been committed to finding a way to increase the speed and efficiency of air travel for some time now.

Last week, the company finally gave the public a look at its spaceship cabin, SpaceShipTwo, which it hopes will soon ferry passengers into space.

It’s now revealed a new jet design for high-speed air travel: a streamlined, delta-wing aircraft with capacity for nine to 19 people cruising at an altitude of over 60 000 feet.

Per CNN:

The super-fast jet will travel at Mach 3 — three times faster than the speed of sound.

Virgin Galactic has also announced a partnership with Rolls-Royce to design and develop engine propulsion technology for futuristic high speed commercial aircraft like this one.

Image: Virgin Galactic/ Concept Art

Rolls-Royce is known for its airplane engine design and notably designed the engine that fuelled the supersonic Concorde, which traveled at Mach 2.

I wouldn’t say no to travelling on a Rolls-Royce jet.

Virgin Galactic has also signed a deal with NASA, to share expertise and resources. NASA has been working on a jet that flies faster than the speed of sound without producing a sonic boom.

Virgin Galactic […] announced that this supersonic jet concept recently passed a mission concept review, which confirmed that the concept “can meet the high-level requirements and objectives of the mission.”

Image: Virgin Galactic/ Concept Art

“We are excited to complete the Mission Concept Review and unveil this initial design concept of a high speed aircraft, which we envision as blending safe and reliable commercial travel with an unrivalled customer experience,” said George Whitesides, Virgin Galactic’s chief space officer.

CNBC with some more info and concept images of the jet:

The company is now ready for the next stage of development which will involve defining the specifics of how the aircraft will work.

I’ll be keeping an eye out for the first test flight.

[source:cnn]