Quarterhorse Hypersonic Aircraft Expected to Fly Mach 5
Hermeus is under a six hundred million dollar contract
In 2018 a group of former members from SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Generation Orbit got together and made a little company called Hermeus. Hermeus is under a six hundred million dollar contract from the United States Air Force to build a hypersonic aircraft called the Quarterhorse. Which is expected to fly faster than Mach 5.
What does any of that mean, though?
They expect to hit that Mach 5 mark using a Turbine-Based Combined Cycle engine, or TBCC engine, built around a commercial GE J85 turbojet engine. What does any of that mean, though? Well, a TBCC engine uses your average turbojet to get to those high speeds, wherein a ramjet would ignite while climbing to hypersonic speeds. The Quarterhorse is still a way out, with the company estimating a flyable prototype out sometime this decade.
Design: Hermus Corp.
Location: Atlanta, GA, U.S.A
Price: TBA
Speed: Mach 5 / 3,856 mph / 6,206 kph
Range: 4,600 mi / 7,400 km
Engine: Turbine-Based Combined Cycle
Cruise Altitude: 95,000’ / 28,956 m
Features
Remotely Piloted
Expected to take flight before the end of the decade.
Working under a $60-million-dollar contract from the U.S. Air Force
