China’s hypersonic aircraft, Starry Sky-2, could be used to carry nuclear missiles at six times the speed of sound
First test flight of experimental design, which rides its own shock waves, deemed a ‘huge success’
China has successfully tested a new hypersonic aircraft that could one day be used to carry missiles at such speeds as to make them unstoppable, according to scientists involved in the project.
The Starry Sky-2, which is an experimental design known as a waverider – for its ability to ride on the shock waves it generates – completed its first test flight on Friday at an undisclosed location in northwest China, the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics said in a statement issued on Monday.
The aircraft was carried into space by a multistage rocket before separating and relying on its own power. During independent flight it conducted extreme turning manoeuvres, maintained velocities above Mach 5.5 (five-and-a-half times the speed of sound) for more than 400 seconds, and achieved a top speed of Mach 6, or 7,344km/h (4,563mph), the statement said.
On completion of the flight, which was deemed a “huge success”, the aircraft landed in a designated target zone, the academy said.
The entire flight was controlled and provided effective test data, while the aircraft itself was recovered “whole”, the statement said.
“The test … has laid a solid technological foundation for engineering applications of the waverider design,” it said.
