Space plane start-up promises one-hour rides to anywhere on Earth

Venus Aerospace Corp., a startup pursuing a hypersonic space plane, is aiming to ferry people from Los Angeles to Tokyo in about an hour

Travelling in a space plane is a lot like travelling in a regular plane, except for the middle part. After reaching cruising altitude, the pilot hits the rocket boosters and blasts the aircraft to the edge of space at more than 9,000 mph, or about 12 times the speed of sound. The plane travels at that speed for about 15 minutes, then glides against the atmo­sphere to slow itself down. Venus Aerospace Corp., a startup pursuing a hypersonic space plane, is aiming to use this technique to ferry people from Los Angeles to Tokyo in about an hour. 

The company was