A HYPERSONIC plane that can travel around the entire Earth in less than seven hours has made two successful test flights.
Talon-A2 reached an incredible 3,800mph while in flight – more than five times the speed of sound.
The ground breaking flights were conducted in December 2024 and March 2025, the ‘s Defence Department has revealed.
A simulation of a Talon-A2 flight shows the hypersonic drone being blasted into the sky by a carrier jet before zooming off.
Talon-A2 was launched from the world’s biggest plane, Roc.
The giant carrier plane holds the record for the largest wingspan – coming in at a whopping 385-feet.
Once in the sky the hypersonic drone was released over the Pacific Ocean before later landing at Vandenberg Space Force Base in .
During its flight Talon-A2 reached a jaw-dropping speed of 3,800 mph – which is more than five times the speed of sound.
But it’s no surprise it can travel so quickly as the vehicle is powered by a hefty 5,000lb-thrust rocket engine.
Talon-A2 is operated by Stratolaunch – a company founded in 2011 by co-founder Paul Allen – as part of a Pentagon Defense Department initiative.
The historic flights mark the first time the US has conducted reusable hypersonic testing since its X-15 programme.
The X-15 programme was a collaboration with , the US Air Force and the Navy.
The programme operated for nearly 10 years – setting a record speed of 5,100mph – before it was terminated in 1968.
This comes as the US has ramped up its hypersonic weapons research as tensions with and reach boiling point.
Meanwhile, a which could take travelers from to City in just one hour is set to arrive as “as soon as the 2030s”;.
The Venus Stargazer is being developed by Venus Aerospace who revealed that it was planning a flight demo “later this “.
The company said that thanks to a Nasa-funded breakthrough, the “record-setting”; engine system is nearly ready to try out for real.
Venus hopes that its rocket engine will be able to blast passengers around the in record time.
“ is Earth’s first hypersonic, reusable aircraft,”; Venus Aerospace boasted.
“No one has ever built a hypersonic platform that makes two-hour global cost-effective. Until now.
“Our flagship product, Stargazer, will ascend from a central airport using advanced propulsion systems.
“Our vehicle will accelerate from taxi to cruise speeds of Mach 4 at 110,000 feet with a top speed capable of Mach 9.”;
The engine is set to feature a new Nasa-funded nozzle design. That’s the part of the rocket that “shapes and directs power“.
This hi-tech nozzle will reportedly allow for speeds exceeding Mach 5 – or about 3,800mph.
