Destinus, a Swiss firm, has announced a capital infusion of more than 25 million euros to finish the development of Jungfrau, a new type of autonomous hypersonic aircraft capable of reaching speeds of Mach 15 and emitting no pollutants owing to its hydrogen engine. while you’re flying
Jungfrau will, according to the business, be a cross between an airplane and a rocket. It will take off and land horizontally from normal airports, and it will be powered by a revolutionary liquid hydrogen-fueled jet engine that will emit only water. This ‘hyperplane,’ as Destinus calls it, will take off and undertake operations similar to a regular plane, but it will be able to swiftly rise and accelerate to supersonic speeds. When it reaches a specific height and speed, it switches to a cryogenic hydrogen engine, which accelerates the plane even faster to hypersonic speeds.
The plane’s builders want to achieve a top speed of Mach 15 at a height of 60 kilometers. It would be able to transport freight between continents in less than two hours as a result of this. When you arrive at your destination, the plane will descend and glide to the airport, just like a regular airliner. “This year, we intend to begin ground and flight testing of our hydrogen-fueled ATR [air turbojet] engines,” said Mikhail Kokorich, the company’s CEO. “The ATR engine, like a turbojet, is an air-breathing jet engine. It is an engine that is suited for both the subsonic and supersonic stages of flight of our ‘hyperplane,’ based on its characteristics. We want to fly the next edition of the prototype with both the ATR and a second hydrogen rocket engine by the end of next year, which will be the configuration for our commercial vehicles.”
For having developed multiple enterprises in the technology and aerospace industries, Kokorich is regarded by some to be the Russian Elon Musk. After leaving Momentus, an aerospace business that went public last summer, he founded Destinus. Destinus now employs 50 people, including engineers who have previously worked for Arianespace, Boeing, Airbus, Dassault, or Rolls-Royce, and wants to expand to 100 this year in order to speed up the construction of its new plane. According to Kokorich, they were able to fly a small-scale prototype last year and plan to do it with a full-size one by the end of 2022. His team is currently perfecting the guiding systems, navigation, and control systems that will allow the ship to operate independently, he says.
If they can make the prototype to operate, which appears to be incredibly difficult both technically and financially, the Jungfrau’s first application will be to transport emergency supplies anywhere on the earth, given to its payload capacity of roughly a tonne. “First and foremost, emergency cargo,” adds Kokorich, “such as parts for sensitive manufacturing cycles or precious perishable items, such as isotopes with a limited half-life for cancer therapy or human organs.”
Destinus will employ this technology to develop passenger ‘hyperplanes’ that can carry tens to hundreds of passengers from Europe to Australia in an hour and a half once it has established itself as a freighter. According to Kokorich, the regulators have already granted authorization to fly at subsonic speeds, and approval for supersonic testing will be granted next year. He stated, “We have begun working with European and national regulators to create new regulatory and certification standards for the hyperplane.” “National and European agencies are actively working to develop certification standards and rules for autonomous aircraft and high-speed systems including suborbital, hypersonic, and supersonic aircraft.”
