Chinese company unveils supersonic plane prototype that can fly at Mach-4

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A Chinese company working on a commercial transport plane capable of flying at Mach-4, twice the speed of the Concorde - unveiled the prototype of its next-generation supersonic aircraft, the Global Times learned on Wednesday.

The supersonic aircraft, named Cuantianhou or Soaring Monkey from the Yunxing series, was revealed on Monday in Chengdu, capital city of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, Sichuan Lingkong Tianxing Technology Co said in a statement sent to the Global Times.

The plane is scheduled for its maiden flight in 2026 to test key metrics such as aerodynamics, heat-resistant materials and power systems, according to the company.

"Supersonic passenger aircraft is making significant breakthroughs and a strong comeback... it has great potential to provide more economical and reliable high-speed flight services in the coming years," said Deng Fan, chief engineer of Sichuan Lingkong Tianxing Technology Co.

The aircraft is designed to operate in near space, approximately 20-100 kilometers above the Earth.

The company said it aims to conduct the maiden flight of its supersonic passenger plane, Dasheng or Monkey King, in 2030.

In October, the company conducted successful tests of its Yunxing prototype supersonic plane, achieving a flight speed of over Mach-4, as the development entered the engineering phase.