The project will be tested next year.
Paivense
A Japanese start-up has announced that it is working on a new type of aircraft, which combines the propulsion system of a jet aircraft with a rocket, and will be tested next year with the aim of starting commercial flights in 2023.
PD Aerospace, an emerging Nagoya-based company in central Japan, obtained funding of 520 million yen (about four million euros | about $4.7 million) from five companies, including All Nippon Airways (ANA), one of the largest airlines Japanese companies, confirmed to the Efe Agency a spokesman for the start-up.
The company works on a spacecraft equipped with an engine that can switch between jet and rocket mode to create Japan's first passenger aircraft capable of reaching outer space (100 kilometers of altitude) and re-entering the atmosphere.
In July of last year, the startup has already successfully tested the alternating propulsion system, and claims that it is the first in the world with such characteristics. Now, they are trying to perfect their project.
The company plans to conduct three unmanned aerial tests in 2019 and perform its first commercial flight at the end of 2023.
"The commercialization of space has progressed exponentially mainly in the United States", PD Aerospace CEO Shuji Ogawa said in a statement, stressing that the company seeks to "play a (relevant) role in the future of space transportation as soon as possible".
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