Historic flight: The supersonic aircraft broke the sound barrier and set a new record (video).

It seems that the revival of commercial supersonic flights has occurred, as Dawn Aerospace announced that its autonomous supersonic rocket-powered aircraft, the Mk-II Aurora, broke the sound barrier at a speed of Mach 1.1 on November 12, 2024, according to New Atlas.

The last flight of the passenger supersonic aircraft "Concorde" took place in 2003, and since then, there have been no commercial supersonic flights. In recent years, several companies have begun developing a new generation of supersonic vehicles that are quieter, more environmentally friendly, and cheaper to operate.

Now, the Mk-II Aurora supersonic rocket-powered aircraft from Dawn Aerospace has made history by completing its first successful flight and setting new records. It is now one of the fastest aircraft on the planet.

The unmanned experimental aircraft, with a wingspan of 4 meters and a dry weight of 200 kg, soared into the sky over New Zealand to an altitude of 25,150 meters, achieving a speed of Mach 1.1 (1 Mach is the speed of sound — 1225 km/h). This means the aircraft surpassed the sound barrier and flew at a speed that is twice that of commercial passenger planes. This marks the first time in history that a civilian aircraft has completed a supersonic flight since the last flight of the "Concorde" in 2003.

According to Dawn Aerospace, the Mk-II Aurora became the first supersonic aircraft built in New Zealand, reached the highest altitude for aircraft launched in this country, and achieved the fastest ascent to 20 km. The supersonic aircraft Mk-II Aurora accomplished this in 118.6 seconds, surpassing the previous record set by a modified F-15 aircraft in the 1970s by 4.2 seconds. Additionally, the aircraft successfully flew again after just 6 hours.

Initially, Dawn Aerospace aimed for its aircraft to reach a speed of Mach 1.05 and ascend to an altitude of 22,800 meters.

The Aurora aircraft is designed for flights to the edge of space at an altitude of 100 km and is expected to fly at a speed of Mach 3.5, which is 3.5 times faster than the speed of sound. The aircraft operates solely using a rocket engine, with a thrust-to-weight ratio 20 times greater than that of conventional jet engines. This aircraft will be used for microgravity research, atmospheric studies, Earth observation, and testing high-speed flights.

According to representatives of Dawn Aerospace, this achievement marks a significant step towards hypersonic travel and daily access to space. Following this flight, the Aurora aircraft has become the fastest climbing, fastest flying, and highest-flying civilian aircraft in the world.