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No, it won't. It's economically infeasible even if it can be made to work technically. Companies like that are just scams to extract money from investors and u

No, it won't. It's economically infeasible even if it can be made to work technically. Companies like that are just scams to extract money from investors and use it to play with toys.

danwee 4y ago
> Companies like that are just scams to extract money from investors and use it to play with toys. Like most (tech) startups then.
- dennis_jeeves1 4y ago
  Or "most" "tech" business...
xwdv 4y ago
You don’t understand how much money is really out there. Some Arab kings will have 3 or 4 of these as their private planes. Travel from the Middle East to New York and be back in time for prayer.
- LeifCarrotson 4y ago
  OP is correct that there's no rational reason for this aircraft to exist - no one will be able to extract enough value from this tool that it makes sense to spend the money on it. But you are also correct that people are not rational.
- Retric 4y ago
  Not in comparison to the R&D costs. The market for people willing to spend 200+ million on an aircraft is tiny. Assuming a crazy profit margin you would still need to sell something like 1,000 of them to potentially break even on R&D costs which isn’t going to happen. The market for 50 million dollar business jets is healthier, but even if you assuming half the purchase price was going to R&D you simply aren’t going to sell enough to pay the 10’s of billions needed let alone the risk premium associated with such an extreme solution.
- rob74 4y ago
  With this exciting new engine tech, I recommend they pray before getting on the plane (as well as after).
  - dennis_jeeves1 4y ago
    Does in the plane count? i.e closer to the supreme being.
kristopolous 4y ago
Some day, all these distant fantasies will be so boring, cheap and common that we won't even consider them technology. How soon that day comes is proportional to our efforts
sailfast 4y ago
Reading between the lines, this is commercial cover for a DoD project. It would be pretty incredible to get stable fuel going that speed, and that kind of engine seems pretty critical to future bomber / fighter fleets.
lettergram 4y ago
I can assume you’d want these type a planes for organ transplants and other time sensitive manners. You better believe these would be booked all the time by diplomats, high net worth individuals, etc They could probably charge $500k-1m a seat for a person
- kibwen 4y ago
  US diplomats famously fly coach, not even first class (not even business class!), and for cost reasons are often required to take circuitous routes with multiple layovers. I would expect the same of any country where attentive taxpayers are footing the bill.

No, it won't. It's economically infeasible even if it can be made to work technically. Companies like that are just scams to extract money from investors and use it to play with toys.

danwee 4y ago

> Companies like that are just scams to extract money from investors and use it to play with toys. Like most (tech) startups then.

dennis_jeeves1 4y ago
Or "most" "tech" business...

xwdv 4y ago

You don’t understand how much money is really out there. Some Arab kings will have 3 or 4 of these as their private planes. Travel from the Middle East to New York and be back in time for prayer.

LeifCarrotson 4y ago
OP is correct that there's no rational reason for this aircraft to exist - no one will be able to extract enough value from this tool that it makes sense to spend the money on it. But you are also correct that people are not rational.
Retric 4y ago
Not in comparison to the R&D costs. The market for people willing to spend 200+ million on an aircraft is tiny. Assuming a crazy profit margin you would still need to sell something like 1,000 of them to potentially break even on R&D costs which isn’t going to happen. The market for 50 million dollar business jets is healthier, but even if you assuming half the purchase price was going to R&D you simply aren’t going to sell enough to pay the 10’s of billions needed let alone the risk premium associated with such an extreme solution.
rob74 4y ago
With this exciting new engine tech, I recommend they pray before getting on the plane (as well as after).
- dennis_jeeves1 4y ago
  Does in the plane count? i.e closer to the supreme being.

kristopolous 4y ago

Some day, all these distant fantasies will be so boring, cheap and common that we won't even consider them technology. How soon that day comes is proportional to our efforts

sailfast 4y ago

Reading between the lines, this is commercial cover for a DoD project. It would be pretty incredible to get stable fuel going that speed, and that kind of engine seems pretty critical to future bomber / fighter fleets.

lettergram 4y ago

I can assume you’d want these type a planes for organ transplants and other time sensitive manners. You better believe these would be booked all the time by diplomats, high net worth individuals, etc They could probably charge $500k-1m a seat for a person

kibwen 4y ago
US diplomats famously fly coach, not even first class (not even business class!), and for cost reasons are often required to take circuitous routes with multiple layovers. I would expect the same of any country where attentive taxpayers are footing the bill.