London - Sir Richard Branson wants to develop planes so fast that passengers will be able to travel between New York and Tokyo in less than an hour.
And he says the technology could be available sooner than we think. Speaking to CNBC, the entrepreneur said that once his Virgin Galactic space tourism project is under way he will turn his attention to developing supersonic commercial flights that fly at 30 580km/h.
Branson has already launched his SpaceShipTwo vehicle which would in turn send the LauncherOne into space for tourist flights.
He said: “After we’ve done the space programme, we will be producing supersonic planes, which will go far, far faster than [the] Concorde.”
Travelling between New York and London in just three hours, Concorde was the fastest commercial flight in the world, but was retired by British Airways more than 10 years ago.
But Branson wants to make it possible to travel even faster than Concorde within his lifetime, dedicating himself to the project once his space travel venture is on track.
He told CNBC: “If we get it right, New York to Tokyo could be less than an hour.”
This equates to 30 580km/h.
His claims are reminiscent of his interview on children’s television in the 1980s which he said inspired him to develop Virgin Galactic.
Questioned about whether he would like to go into space by a young caller on Going Live! in 1988, the interview prompted him to think about space tourism.
“There could be nothing nicer. If you’re building a spacecraft, I’d love to come with you on it.”
The entrepreneur credits the boy, Shihan Musafer, with inspiring him and even launched a worldwide Twitter search last month to find him.
The Virgin Galactic programme is reaching its final stages and 700 people – including businessmen, Hollywood stars and Branson’s family – have signed up to become space tourists. – Daily Mail