The Zero Emission Hyper Sonic Transport or ZEHST is a supersonic

Supersonic

Supersonic speed is a rate of travel of an object that exceeds the speed of sound . For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C this speed is approximately 343 m/s, 1,125 ft/s, 768 mph or 1,235 km/h. Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound are often...

 passenger airliner

Airliner

An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Such aircraft are operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an aircraft intended for carrying multiple passengers in commercial...

 project by EADS

EADS

The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. is a global pan-European aerospace and defence corporation and a leading defence and military contractor worldwide...

 and Japan. It can be seen as a descendent of the Concorde

Concorde

Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...

 airliner.

Unveiled on 18th June 2011 by EADS at Le Bourget air show, it is expected to fly at Mach

Mach number

Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...

 4, 32 km above the ground, carrying 50 to 100 people. It will combine three propulsion systems: two turbofans for take-off and up to Mach 0.8, then rocket

Rocket engine

A rocket engine, or simply "rocket", is a jet engineRocket Propulsion Elements; 7th edition- chapter 1 that uses only propellant mass for forming its high speed propulsive jet. Rocket engines are reaction engines and obtain thrust in accordance with Newton's third law...

 boosters up to Mach 2.5, then two underwing supersonic ramjets would accelerate it to Mach 4. The plane is envisaged to be propelled by biofuel made from seaweed and by oxygen / hydrogen.

Using turbofans for take off will make ZEHST no more noisy than an ordinary plane.
ZEHST is expected to fly on 2050 and will fly from London to Japan in less than 3 hours.

See also

• Supercruise
  Supercruise
  Supercruise is sustained supersonic flight of an aircraft with a useful cargo, passenger, or weapons load performed efficiently and without the use of afterburners ....
  
  
• Concorde
  Concorde
  Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
  
  
• Tupolev Tu-144
  Tupolev Tu-144
  The Tupolev Tu-144 was a Soviet supersonic transport aircraft and remains one of only two SSTs to enter commercial service, the other being the Concorde...
  
  
• Boeing 2707
  Boeing 2707
  The Boeing 2707 was developed as the first American supersonic transport . After winning a competition for a government-funded contract to build an American SST, Boeing began development at its facilities in Seattle, Washington...
  
  
• Orient Express X-30 follow-on
• Boeing Sonic Cruiser
  Boeing Sonic Cruiser
  |-References:*Haenggi, Michael. "The Sonic Future?". Boeing Widebodies. MBI, 2003. ISBN 0-7603-0842-X.-External links:* * * * . Seattle PI, November 4, 2001* . Flight International, January 7, 2003*...
  
  
• SonicStar
• EADS Astrium Space Tourism Project
  EADS Astrium Space Tourism Project
  The EADS Astrium Space Tourism Project, also called EADS Astrium TBN according to some sources, is a suborbital spaceplane concept for carrying space tourists, proposed by EADS Astrium, the space subsidiary of the European consortium EADS. A mockup was officially unveiled in Paris on June 13,...
  
  

External links

• Hypersonic Passenger Flight on Aviation Week with a diagram of the plane.
• L'avion qui va révolutionner le transport aérien, french page with a concept art of the plane.
• Astrium Efficiency Initiative To Trim Work Force
• Video - ZEHST by EADS (Official EADS YouTube Channel) : Zero Emission Hypersonic transportation
• Video Interview - ZEHST by EADS (Official EADS YouTube Channel) : Zero Emission Hypersonic transportation
• Video Extended - ZEHST by EADS (Official EADS YouTube Channel) : Zero Emission Hypersonic transportation