Aerion Supersonic AS2: New Supersonic Jet Undergoes Testing as Giant Manufacturing Plant Unveiled
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Aerion Supersonic As2: New Supersonic Jet Undergoes Testing As Giant Manufacturing Plant Unveiled:
Aerion Supersonic, one of several companies developing a next-generation supersonic jet, is moving forward with its plans to start production on its aircraft in 2023.
[...] The $300 million facility will be located near Melbourne-Orlando Airport with about 185,000 square metres of building space, plus taxiways and other ground support facilities for the planned jet.
The new facility will employ 675 people, with Aerion citing Florida's association with high tech flight, and its connected workforce, as a key reason for choosing the location. The coastline east of Orlando is known as the Space Coast for its connection to America's space program.
[...] The AS2 will fly at mach 1.4, or 1715 km/h. The company says the jet would carry between eight and 12 passengers and could make the flight from New York to London in 4.5 hours, compared with about seven hours for regular commercial planes. It would cut at least four hours off the flight time between New York and Sydney, which took more than 19 hours on a Qantas test flight in 2019.
[...] Aerion plans to build 300 AS2 jets in its first 10 years of production. The plane will have a price tag of $US120 million.
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