Swiss Startup Reveals Ultra-Long-Range Hypersonic Hydrogen Airplane

Destinus debuted the latest demonstrator of an aircraft at the Paris Airshow that can connect New York and Paris in about 90 minutes!

Founded in 2021, Destinus is headquartered in Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. It has facilities and offices in Madrid, Munich, Toulouse and Paris.

The Destinus 3 will perform a supersonic flight with liquid hydrogen from Rochefort airport in 2024. It is expected to become the world's first hydrogen-powered supersonic uncrewed jet with the aim of flying five times the speed of sound at around 108,000 feet.

“We can go up to 6,000 km/h, or do a Paris-New York in 1 hour and 30 minutes,” Jean-Philippe Girault, general manager of Destinus France, was quoted as saying by LA Tribune.

The propulsion system for Destinus 3 will incorporate a kerosene-fueled turbojet engine in conjunction with a liquid hydrogen-fueled afterburner. The company also plans to trial a fully hydrogen-based system for both turbojet and afterburner.

Hydrogen fuel has an energy density three times that of Jet A fuel, and its emissions consist only of heat and water vapor. Destinus 3 integrates hydrogen afterburners into turbojet and ramjet engines which can run on traditional fuel.

Destinus S, the world's first commercial hypersonic passenger plane, will be launched between 2030 and 2032. It will be able to perform hypersonic flights up to 6,000 kmph with 25 passengers on board.

A larger model, Destinus L, will transport 300-400 passengers at speeds up to Mach 6.

The company demonstrated its hydrogen afterburner on the 12-foot-long Destinus (Jungfrau) 1 in May. The 30-foot Destinus 2 (Eiger) and its predecessor have already achieved subsonic flight. These two uncrewed models are currently used to study the flight capabilities of different hypersonic aero shapes.