It has been two decades since the era of supersonic commercial flight ended with the final landing of the Concorde at an airport in southwestern England.
In recent years, many promises have been made about supersonic travel, hydrogen-powered technology, and anti-explosion innovations, but many of these ultra-fast projects have stalled or faced delays.
Now, a European supersonic startup is taking on the challenge, promising exciting travel times such as flying from Frankfurt to Sydney (approximately 16,000 km) in 4 hours and 15 minutes or from Memphis to Dubai (approximately 12,000 km) in 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Destinus aims to develop a hydrogen-powered aircraft with a speed five times that of sound, reducing flight times to less than a quarter of current commercial aviation journeys. Headquartered in Switzerland with a team of about 120 employees spread across Spain, France, and Germany, Destinus was established in 2021 but has quickly achieved significant milestones.
Its first two prototypes have successfully completed test flights and are about to begin testing hydrogen-powered flights. Its third prototype – Destinus 3 – is set to make its inaugural flight later this year.
The company’s business development director, Martina Löfqvist, reached out to CNN via a video call to explain the technology behind it.
Destinus Supersonic Aircraft Design.
Fuel
Destinus’s strategy is to develop small unmanned aircraft before scaling up to passenger planes. Hydrogen is the chosen fuel for Destinus due to its clean, renewable energy source that is becoming increasingly affordable and has the potential to help the company achieve its speed and range ambitions.
Löfqvist stated: “We aim to travel extremely long distances with our vehicles, such as flying from Europe to Australia at Mach 5. Using kerosene means the aircraft will be quite heavy, while compared to using hydrogen, it will be much lighter. Hydrogen also has a higher energy density than traditional aviation fuel.”
The long-term goal is to operate entirely on hydrogen and be emissions-free, but while hydrogen production is still being scaled up, Destinus’s short-term plan is to use Jet A fuel before transitioning once it reaches Mach 3. This is because “hydrogen isn’t really useful or better than Jet A until you reach supersonic speeds.”
Design
The Destinus prototypes are aircraft with a blended wing body design – a supersonic design first conceived in the 1950s. Löfqvist explained that this classic shape has been studied for many years.
“The purpose of it is to allow you to ride on the shock waves created by the aircraft itself. It’s a quite efficient shape that lets you use less fuel to fly because there’s less drag with the air.”
The upcoming prototype, Destinus 3, will achieve supersonic speeds. The company hopes to achieve hydrogen-powered supersonic flight by 2024 and will be able to launch an aircraft that can accommodate about 25 passengers, fully focused on business class customers.
By the 2040s, the fully expanded version of Destinus will offer multiple classes, including economy class. They hope that by then, the price of hydrogen will decrease significantly, allowing for reduced fares for these ultra-long-haul flights.
