Aerion releases first glimpse of its AS3 supersonic aircraft
Aerion, a leader in supersonic and high Mach flight, on Monday released a first glimpse of its next aircraft – the AS3™. The AS3™ Mach 4+ commercial airliner is targeted to take to the skies before the end of the decade and build upon the AS2® supersonic business jet to bring Aerion’s innovation to commercial air transportation.
With conceptualization and design work underway and built around input from potential customers, Aerion plans for the AS3™ to incorporate revolutionary advances in technology to improve efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of supersonic flight, with the capability to transport up to 50 passengers at a range of 7,000 nm.
Earlier this year Aerion expanded its ongoing partnership with NASA’s Langley Research Center, with the intention of accelerating the realization of commercial high-speed flight and faster point-to-point travel, specifically studying commercial flight in the Mach 3-5 range.
“At Aerion, our vision is to build a future where humanity can travel between any two points on our planet within three hours. Supersonic flight is the starting point, but it is just that – the beginning. To truly revolutionize global mobility as we know it today, we must push the boundaries of what is possible” said Aerion’s Chairman, President & CEO, Tom Vice. “The AS3™ forms the next step in our long-term technology roadmap and will bring Aerion’s high Mach flight capability to a broader audience; we look forward to sharing more on our design later this year.”
Aerion’s pursuit of faster point-to-point travel will begin with the launch of the AS2® supersonic business jet which will commence production in 2023.
