Virgin Galactic, the space tourism branch of the Virgin empire of billionaire Richard Branson, will partner with engine giant Rolls-Royce to build an aircraft that can fly at around three times the speed of sound.
Virgin Galactic reported Monday that Branson's The Spaceship Company – a unit of Virgin Galactic – has signed an agreement with Rolls-Royce to partner in the design and production of high-speed commercial aircraft engine.
The new jet is a streamlined, Concorde-esque type delta-wing plane that can carry nine to 19 passengers and cruise at an altitude of more than 60,000 feet at Mach 3.
In a statement, Virgin Galactic chief space officer George Whitesides said the new aircraft will consolidate safe and reliable commercial travel and that the group would continue to team up with regulators "to ensure our designs can make a practical impact from the start," Forbes staff reporter David Dawkins quoted Whitesides as saying in his report.
Rolls-Royce is highly revered for its jet engine technology and notably built the engine that fueled the supersonic Concorde, which traveled at Mach 2. No supersonic airline company has been in service anywhere in the globe since the British-French Concorde was decommissioned in 2003.
Tom Bell, chairman of Rolls-Royce North America, disclosed in a statement that his group delivers a distinct history in high- speed propulsion technology, dating back to the flamboyant Concorde, and provides advanced technical know-how to craft high-tech propulsion required to power commercially-available high-mach travel.
Virgin Galactic stated that it completed a mission concept evaluation alongside NASA of its supersonic vehicle design and will now team up with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to build a framework for the jet's flight certification and ensure that the aircraft's design concept can meet the criteria and objectives of the mission.
Previously Boeing's venture unit invested $20 million in the company, specifically toward helping Virgin Galactic manufacture a supersonic plane. "We've made great progress so far, and we look forward to opening up a new frontier in high-speed travel," Don Jacobson of UPI quoted Whitesides in a report.
Traveling at supersonic speed is a long-term vision of Virgin Galactic, which has been making great strides in developing reusable space vehicles that can transport tourists to orbit for about $250,000 per passenger.
The group disclosed it is in final test phases and has already received hundreds of cash deposits. Virgin Galactic Holdings shares rallied 4.81 percent and settled at $24.02 in Monday's session.
