A Chinese company developing a civilian transport aircraft capable of flying at Mach 4, twice the speed of the Concorde, has unveiled a prototype of its next-generation supersonic aircraft, the Global Times reported on Wednesday.
The supersonic aircraft, named Cuantianhou or Soaring Monkey of the Yunxing series, was unveiled on Monday in Chengdu, the capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan province, Sichuan Lingang Tianxing Science and Technology Co., Ltd. said in a statement sent to the Global Times. .
The aircraft is scheduled to make its first flight in 2026 to test key metrics such as aerodynamics, heat-resistant materials and power systems, the company said.
“Supersonic passenger aircraft have made great progress and are making a strong comeback. They have great potential to provide more economical, reliable, and high-speed flight services in the coming years,” Sichuan Lingku Tianxing said. said Deng Huang, chief engineer of Science and Technology Co., Ltd.
The aircraft is designed to fly in near space, about 20 to 100 kilometers above Earth.
The company said it aims to conduct the first flight of its supersonic passenger plane “Darshen” or “Monkey King” in 2030.
In October, the company successfully conducted a test of its Yunxing prototype supersonic aircraft, with its development entering the engineering stage, achieving a flight speed of over Mach 4.
