You might be able to travel anywhere in the world in a mere 90 minutes - thanks to plans for the world’s fastest plane, which aims to fly nine times the speed of sound.
So if you wanted to catch a flight from San Francisco to Japan, or Houston to London, you'll land within two hours of take-off - enjoying a view of the Earth’s curve along the way.
The aircraft, known as the Venus Stargazer Spaceplane, could become the quickest passenger plane in the world, travelling at 7,000mph and reaching Mach Nine - which is nine times the speed of sound.
If it all comes together, the plane will be able to carry 12 passengers per flight, and could be the first time people can experience supersonic travel since the Concorde stopped operating in 2003.
Advert
Developed by Houston-based startup Venus Aerospace, the plane plans to use a rocket engine to propel passengers to 170,000ft, crossing 5,000 miles in just one hour.
Its creators say the Stargazer will be the first hypersonic, reusable aircraft, adding “no one has ever built an engine that makes a one-hour global transport cost-effective. Until now”.
Dr Andrew Duggleby, a co-founder of Venus Aerospace, said: “This isn’t science fiction, this is science fact.” A pretty iconic catchphrase, if you ask us.
The jet will be 100ft wide and 150ft long, weighing around 150,000 pounds, and plans to have state-of-the-art cooling technology so the wings can withstand the high temperatures of hypersonic speed.
Advert
But don’t start planning your trip just yet – as this would be a world first, the Stargazer is being built from scratch and isn’t expected to start operating until at least the 2030s.
Its main competitor, Destinus, is being developed by Mikhail Kokorich - who has been dubbed the Russian Elon Musk.
The last time humans were able to travel at supersonic speed was when the Concorde began running passenger flights in 1976, flying at Mach Two - twice the speed of sound.
Advert
With a maximum cruising speed of 1,354mph, travellers on the Concorde were able to reach New York from London in less than three-and-a-half hours, but the fleet was discontinued in 2003 due to low passenger numbers and high maintenance costs.
The Stargazer could beat this record by a landslide - and has the potential to change air travel forever.