EADS unveils Concorde of the future

Concept is unveiled as the Paris Air Show takes place

This is EADS' Zero Emission Hyper Sonic Transport (ZEHST) concept, unveiled as the Paris Air Show takes place. The aircraft uses rocket power to transport passengers above the Earth's atmosphere, dramatically cutting flight times.

It is powered by three engine types which would allow it to take off as a normal plane using jet engines, before employing rockets to shoot into the outer atmosphere and supersonic "ramjets" when it reaches its cruising altitude, at around 32km.

Passenger jets today travel at an altitude of about 11km.

With such a high altitude, the aircraft's ground speed would be more than twice that of the now-defunct Concorde, speeding around the planet at Mach 4 - four times the speed of sound, or around 5,000 kph.