Tickets for a trip in the superfast jet, known as ZEHST (for Zero Emission Hypersonic Transportation), will likely cost in the neighborhood of $10,000 to $30,000, according to aerospace industry experts. That hefty price tag will keep most regular folks out of the skies — a fact that perhaps doesn't bode well for ZEHST's long-term survival. Aerospace giant EADS, which owns aircraft manufacturer Airbus, introduced the idea for ZEHST over the weekend at the Paris Air Show. The concept vehicle would be capable of flying at about four times the speed of sound, or Mach 4.
At these speeds — about twice as fast as the supersonic Concorde jets that plied the skies from 1976 until 2003 — passengers could zip from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just 2 1/2 hours. ZEHST, which would likely seat between 50 and 100 passengers, relies on a three-part propulsion system. The jet would take off horizontally like a plane, using turbojets to climb to about 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). At that point, rockets ignite, blasting the craft steeply upward.
ZEHST would be fueled principally by hydrogen, which would make the vehicle more environmentally friendly than the hydrocarbon-burning jets of today. EADS officials said they envision having a ZEHST demonstrator vehicle ready to go by 2020, with commercial service starting around 2050. Technews Daily
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