The US is about to launch 20 times faster than sound

The US military plans to launch a large-scale rocket aircraft that will fly 20 times faster than sound in three years, officials said.

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Space.com says the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to develop and test an ultra-high-speed X-Plane plane called the Mach 20 in 2016. It will fly up to 20,900km / h, allowing US troops to reach every part of the Earth in less than an hour.

In addition, the aircraft can be recalled, meaning the US government will be able to summon the aircraft back to its starting point, DARPA said.

In pursuit of this ambitious project, DARPA has launched a new program called Integrated Ultrasound (IH) . IH will study to apply previous defense studies to X-Plane.

"We do not yet have a complete supersonic system solution ," DARPA representative explained. Programs such as IH will help leverage previous investments while minimizing the risk to projects.

The IH program will focus on five areas: thermal protection, aerodynamics, guidance, navigation and control (GNC) systems, range / equipment and propulsion.

In particular, the thermal protection system is a key requirement for supersonic flight. Aircraft flying in the atmosphere at speeds of Mach 20 will suffer temperatures up to 1927 degrees Celsius, hot enough to melt even stainless steel.

At the same time, advanced aerodynamic and aerodynamic technologies will allow X-plane to provide real-time adjustments to respond to any changes in flight conditions. The type of rocket that X-plane uses is not simply rockets available for space missions. Instead, DARPA is working on a completely new integrated rocket launcher.

DARPA has been experimenting with supersonic aircraft several times in recent years. For example, the agency has conducted two HTV-2 test flights over the past two years. In the last test in August 2011, HTV-2 achieved Mach 20 but stayed in the atmosphere for only 9 minutes.