The hydrogen-powered device is a hybrid of a plane and a rocket, making air transport both more sustainable and faster.
In a few years’ time, the first flight test to test the efficiency of a very fast spacecraft could be carried out as early as 2025. The device is being developed by Chinese engineers.
ZEVA Aero would break into the air transport market with a saucer-like vehicle to replace cars with single-seater flying capsules. ZEVA Aero’s eVTOL, Zero, is a departure from the usual aeronautical devices: it has a disc, or saucer if you like, design for more dynamic flight, which the manufacturer claims can effectively increase range by reducing drag.
Aeronautical engineers at MIT are testing the concept of a lunar rover that floats on the Moon’s surface by harnessing the electrical charge it generates. In the absence of an atmosphere, the surface of the Moon and similar celestial bodies can build up an electric charge through direct exposure to sunlight. On the Moon, the resulting electric field can be strong enough to lift the fine dust on its surface to heights of more than a metre.
Turkey is developing a drone that can disarm bombs with a laser beam. Turkey has developed a laser beam bomb disposal drone capable of burning through carbon steel.
According to its inventors, rockets accelerated to several times the speed of sound in a vacuum cylinder can reduce the cost of spaceflight to a fraction of the cost. In recent years, there have been countless ideas on how to make rocket launches more economical, from reusable booster rockets to giant planes carrying space assets to the stratosphere, to futuristic space elevators. SpinLaunch has chosen a different solution, and it looks like their calculations will work.
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