The Zero Emission Hypersonic Transportation (ZEHST) by EADS: Hypersonic passenger jet to run on clean fuel unveiled at Paris Air Show

Super-fast speed — think Tokyo to L.A. in 2 1/2 hours — isn’t the only cool feature of the Zero Emission Hyper Sonic Transport proposed by EADS. At the Paris Air Show this week, the aircraft manufacturer and Airbus parent revealed its proposed passenger aircraft, which would be run on, among other sources, liquid hydrogen and biofuel.

The aircraft, which EADS said could be standard by 2050, would cruise at Mach 4 speeds nearly 20 miles high — inside the Earth’s atmosphere. Demonstration technologies could be ready by the end of this decade. Source: Los Angeles Times



European aerospace giant EADS its studying a Mach 4 airliner able to fly 50-100 passengers from Paris to Tokyo in 2.5 hours. Not expected to emerge before 2040, the Zero Emission Hypersonic Transportation (ZEHST) concept has three modes of propulsion: turbofans from take-off to Mach 0.8, rocket boosters from there to Mach 2.5, where ramjets would take over and accelerate the aircraft to Mach 4. The ZEHST would descend in a glide until the turbofans take over for the return to the runway.