Will the future of aviation involve supersonic suborbital flights?

A Chinese startup wants to revolutionize suborbital flights and compete directly with airlines by offering ultra-fast trips into space. The idea is to be able to link two major cities like Beijing and Dubai in just one hour.

Space Transportation wants to take passengers from point A to point B by taking a short ride through space! In addition to the experience, unique in its kind, this would save a considerable amount of time compared to traditional air travel.

In fact, passengers would book their tickets via a dedicated app before boarding as they would for a conventional flight. The big difference is that the take-off will be vertical, the aircraft being propelled by a wing-shaped rocket. Once it reaches the right height, it will detach from the plane to come and rest on its starting point.

The aircraft then flies in orbit before starting its landing phase, again vertically. Throughout the entire trip, passengers can enjoy a privileged view of Earth! This "plane" can then take off again towards another destination, through the use of a new rocket.

The startup intends to carry out ground tests by 2023, before experimenting with the first flights, without passengers, in 2024, and then with a crew from 2025. If all goes well, the first commercial flight could take place by 2030.

If this new project advances it will clearly be in competition with those of billionaires Elon Musk (SpaceX), Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin) and Richard Branson (Virgin Galactic), all of whom have long been attracted to space tourism.