TRENDS TECHNOLOGY

NASA. Boom Technology has been developing a 40-passenger supersonic jet capable of flying Mach 1.7. That will be quieter and 30 per cent more efficient than the Concorde and will be able to fly Los Angeles to Sydney in 6 hours. It is planned to go into service in 2029. FAA and ICAO are working on lifting bans in the early 2020s. The Lockheed Martin X-59 QueSST X-plane is supporting technology development. According to published reports, the market for supersonic airliners costing $200 million could be 1,300 over a 10-year period, worth $260 billion. Russians are also working on Supersonic Business and commercial jets. The Spike S-512 is a self-funded twinjet design aiming to cruise at Mach 1.6 over water for 11,500 km, with 22 passengers in a windowless cabin. NASA plans to fly the Lockheed Martin X-59 Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) low-boom flight demonstrator for ICAO standards in 2025. Exosonic Inc was awarded a contract to develop a supersonic jet which could be used as Air Force One. Virgin Galactic with Rolls-Royce unveiled the concept of a Mach 3 capable twinjet delta wing aircraft that can carry up to 19 passengers. The supersonic Tupolev Tu-444 or Gulfstream X-54 have also been proposed. The German SpaceLiner is a suborbital hypersonic winged passenger spaceplane project under preliminary development. Boeing unveiled in 2018 a Mach 6 passenger airliner that could cross the Atlantic in 2 hours or the Pacific in 3 at 1,00,000 ft altitude. A reusable demonstrator could be flown as early as 2023 or 2024 for a potential entry into service from the late 2030s.

SPACE TRAVEL. The trio of billionaire-led rocket companies, Bezos’ Blue Origin, Branson’s Virgin Galactic, where tickets for a suborbital spaceflight start at $4,50,000; and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which in September launched an all-civilian spaceflight, with no trained astronauts on board. Inaugural Virgin Galactic flight in 2021 reached about 53 miles, while Blue Origin flies above the 62-mile mark. SpaceX rockets go up to 120 miles above Earth. In fact, we’ll see the launch of affordable space tourism industry within just a few years. Virgin Galactic had announced the launch of its commercial passenger service, which is now delayed to late

2023. Voyages are scheduled to begin departing from Florida in 2024, at a cost of $1,25,000 per person.

WAY AHEAD. Advancements in technology are impacting every aspect of aviation industry, from aircraft design to aircraft operations. From passenger handling to passenger comfort. From operational efficiency to flight safety and security. From saving passenger time to airlines costs. Some technologies will take time. SAF production has to go up considerably. Supersonic and hypersonic airliners are still some distance away. Space travel must become cheaper. Expectations for an electric aviation future continue to rise, but the level of technology readiness, including certification, still requires significant work. While hydrogen flying is considered by many to be the holy grail of cleaner aviation. But the energy source is still in its nascent days. It could take at least another quarter century until hydrogen becomes a market-ready technology for commercial aviation. It can be seen that many major new air travel technologies have to reach the level of market maturity. SP