Swiss company Destinus is working on a passenger aircraft capable of supersonic speeds (over 343 m/s). The funds were allocated by the Spanish Ministry of Science following successful tests of the Eiger prototype in late 2022.
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In addition to the Swiss company, Spanish universities and technology centres are also working on the supersonic passenger jet. In addition, Destinus is collaborating with the Spanish company ITP Aero to build a facility where hydrogen engines will be tested.
The test centre will appear near Madrid. A first tranche of €12 million is earmarked for its establishment, while a second tranche of €15 million will finance the research.
According to Destinus, the supersonic passenger aircraft will be able to fly from Frankfurt to Sydney in 4 hours 15 minutes and from Frankfurt to Shanghai in 2 hours 45 minutes. The flight from Europe to Australia now takes 20 hours.
Thanks to the grants Destinus will soon be able to begin testing the H2 jet engine. The company will also accelerate the development of technology for propulsion systems that run solely on hydrogen.
The Spanish authorities are investing heavily in the development of hydrogen engines through strategic projects financed by the European Commission’s Next Gen funds. This is in line with Spain’s National Hydrogen Energy Plan. Its aim is to make Spain a world leader in the production of renewable hydrogen and the development of hydrogen mobility in various sectors.
Source: Interesting Engineering
