Japan plans test of 'new Concorde'

“TOKYO, Japan (AP) — Japan’s space agency plans to launch an arrow-shaped airplane at twice the speed of sound high over the Australian outback as early as next month in a crucial test of the country’s push to develop a supersonic successor to the retired Concorde.

The test follows a three-year hiatus since the first experimental flight of the unmanned aircraft, dubbed the next-generation supersonic transport, prematurely separated from its booster rocket and crashed into the desert.

“We’ve made some improvements so that won’t happen again,” Takaaki Akuto, a spokesman for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, said Tuesday in Tokyo. “This is a pretty important test.” ” http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/08/23/japan.supersonic.ap/index.html

Looks good.If it continues,Tokyo to Los Angeles could be just 4 hours.