---
title: "Get Your First Look at the Future of Hypersonic Flight"
description: "Aeropspace company Boeing has revealed a model of their in-development hypersonic plane designed to replace the SR-71 Blackbird as the fastest airplane."
date: "2018-01-15"
modified: "2018-01-15"
authors:
  - name: "Claudia Geib"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/claudia"
url: "https://futurism.com/first-look-future-hypersonic-flight"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
tags:
  - "boeing"
  - "hypersonic plane"
  - "sr-71 blackbird"
---

# Get Your First Look at the Future of Hypersonic Flight

![hypersonic plane boeing future of flight](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/X-51A_Waverider.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-51_Waverider#/media/File:X-51A_Waverider.jpg" target="\_blank"\>U.S. Air Force\</a\>\</em\>*

Aerospace companies are in a heated race to create a hypersonic plane to replace [the SR-71 Blackbird](<https://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/100years/stories/blackbird.html>). Though retired in 1990, the SR-71 still holds the record as the fastest plane ever built, achieving a top speed of 3,540 kmh (2,200 mph). The goal now is to build a plane capable of reaching speeds above Mach 5 (6,171 kmh/3,835 mph), and [Boeing](<http://www.boeing.com/>) thinks they may have the design that could do it.

During the [American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' SciTech Forum](<https://scitech.aiaa.org/>) in Florida last week, Boeing unveiled a model of their next-generation demonstrator hypersonic aircraft. The twin-tail, tapered-wing concept hasn't yet been approved for full-scale development, but Boeing's head of hypersonic research [told *Aviation Week Aerospace Daily*](<http://aviationweek.com/defense/boeing-unveils-hypersonic-son-blackbird-contender?NL=AW-05&Issue=AW-05_20180112_AW-05_504&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1&utm_rid=CPEN1000002485151&utm_campaign=13215&utm_medium=email&elq2=09eeda38c16145ee9691499ee08b1e81>) that it is a feasible design.

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/boing-hypersonic2-1515787473.jpg>)
*Boeing's recently unveiled design for their hypersonic plane. Image Credit: Boeing*

[*Popular Mechanics* reports](<http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a15070935/boeing-hypersonic-concept-replace-sr-71-blackbird/?src=socialflowTW&src=socialflowTW>) that Boeing's current design works off of previous successes in hypersonic aircraft, including the unmanned X-51, which broke records in 2013 when it flew at Mach 5.1 for three-and-a-half minutes before running out of fuel and crashing into the ocean. The big challenge is building a plane that can not only reach Mach 5, but that can also decelerate to land.

To that end, both Boeing and Lockheed Martin are researching designs that utilize turbojets, a type of engine that has long been used in commercial aircraft, to achieve Mach 3 speeds before swapping to a dual ramjet/scramjet. Those types of compression engines only function at speeds above Mach 3, and they would provide the power to propel the aircraft to Mach 5 speeds and higher.

![Artist's concept of Lockheed Martin's SR-72. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/sr72lockheed.jpg>)
*Artist's concept of Lockheed Martin's SR-72. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin*

[Lockheed Martin's planned SR-72](<https://futurism.com/lockheed-confirms-secretive-sr-72-hypersonic-plane-will-be-made>), which they are developing with the U.S. Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has a similar design to the craft revealed by Boeing last week. The tentative release date for the SR-72 is 2030, though [sightings of an unmanned demonstrator aircraft](<http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/news/a28420/hypersonic-sr-72-demonstrator-reportedly-spotted-at-skunk-works/>) at Lockheed's California facility suggest the company may be further along in development than expected.

China also has several programs currently researching and developing hypersonic flight systems, including a [hypersonic space plane](<https://futurism.com/chinas-hypersonic-spaceplane-could-be-available-by-2030>) and [scramjets that have already been tested](<https://www.popsci.com/chinas-hypersonic-technology>) at speeds of Mach 7 (8,642 kmh/5,370 mph).

Regardless of who wins this race, the development of hypersonic flight [promises to change the future](<https://futurism.com/the-age-of-hypersonic-flight-will-completely-change-how-we-travel>) of travel, exploration, and military engagement — for everyone.

## Author
Claudia is a science writer and editor based in Boston, Massachusetts. She's a science omnivore with a particular appetite for marine science and the environment.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/cm_geib>)