Hypersonic passenger plane can fly from London to New York in less than two hours through SPACE

Future generations of air travellers could one day fly from London to New York in less than two hours instead of six if this stunning passenger plane is ever built.

Long-distance flights on the concept supersonic/hypersonic aircraft, called Paradoxal, would be a life-changing experience, as they would include a trip through sub-orbital space at a speed of Mach 3.

Flight times between distant parts of the globe would be slashed to just a few hours and passengers would be able to take in the stars and sights below like never before.

The aircraft would be so fast that it would be able to fly from Los Angeles to Sydney - a flight that currently takes an agonising 15 hours - in less than three hours.

Paradoxal is the brainchild of industrial designer Juan Garcia Mansilla, from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

He told the website Imaginactive : "It uses a Rotary Ramjet engine as the air-breathing engine and then converts to a rocket to reach a suborbital altitude.

"A line of counterflowing jets of air on the aircraft’s leading edges reduces heat and drag during the ascent and re-entry phases of the flight."

Passengers would sit in one large, theatre-like cabin, with galleys and baggage stowage at the back, and plenty of legroom.

The blended-wing aircraft would be able to take off from any airport thanks to engines which produce significant thrust at supersonic speeds.

The Rotary Ramjet engines would provide enough power to lift off and climb to 60,000ft before reaching Mach 3.

At that stage of flight the engine would turn into a rocket engine by injecting liquid oxygen into the gas exhaust port, allowing it to travel into sub-orbital space.

Passengers would be able to see the Earth's curvature and onboard cameras would beam footage of the view outside onto screens in front of passengers.

A panoramic rooftop is being considered to make the experience even more spectacular.

The designer said: "You would even get to experience weightlessness for one brief minute before heading back towards Earth."

The plane's leading edges would be fitted with 'Long Penetration Mode nozzles' so that air to flow out of them, creating a 'paradoxal' effect which allows the aircraft to fly even faster.

Onboard tanks of suppressed air would supply air to the nozzles as the plane reached supersonic and then hypersonic speed.

As the plane accelerates and gains altitude the effect would reduce thermal loads and reduce overall drag.

Before landing the LPM effect would cool the plane during atmospheric re-entry and allow it to slow down.