Innovative Design

This New Concept Jet Will Zip You Across the World with Views of the Outer Space

Designed by engineer Charles Bombardier, the Paradoxal is the latest concept jet to push the needle of future air travel
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A rendering of the Paradoxal concept jet, which would carry passengers along the edge of outer space before reentering the Earth's orbit for landing.All renderings courtesy of Juan Garcia Mansilla

Canadian engineer Charles Bombardier is in the business of making air travel more innovative than it's ever been before. And with such concepts as the Skeemr (a passenger jet that would hit speeds of more than 6,600 m.p.h.) and the Antipode (a jet that could fly from New York to Dubai in roughly 22 minutes), the 42-year-old trailblazer has already attracted much interest from both the public and private sectors. His latest design, the Paradoxal, is the product of the feedback he received from leading engineers and scientists in response to his previous concept jets.

The Paradoxal, which was unveiled earlier this week, is a passenger jet that would be able to fly from Los Angeles to Sydney in less than three hours. Currently, the 7,585-mile trip takes about 15 hours on a nonstop commercial flight. Bombardier's latest concept is propelled by two rotary ramjet engines, a new engine concept that can generate supersonic speed with no moving parts. Upon takeoff, the Paradoxal gains a tremendous amount of speed, hitting Mach 3 as it climbs to an altitude of 60,000 feet (general cruising altitude for current international flights is around 39,000 feet). From there, the ramjet engines would switch to become rocket engines, a process accomplished by injecting liquid oxygen into the motors. This would give the Paradoxal an extra thrust, pushing the commercial jet up to an altitude of 40 miles above the Earth's surface while setting it on a parabolic trajectory toward its distant destination.

The Paradoxal gaining speed and altitude, before reaching a suborbital cruising altitude.

Most spectacular of all, perhaps, is the fact that the flight would be suborbital, meaning the jet would travel on the edge of outer space before reentering the Earth's orbit. So not only would passengers cross the world at astonishing speeds, they'd experience jaw-dropping views of the planet and stars along the way.

Like nearly all of Bombardier's concepts, the Paradoxal is many years if not decades away from becoming a reality. What Bombardier aims to do, however, is propel the next generation of scientists and engineers to new heights of innovation with his boundary-pushing designs.