Mk-II Aurora writes history, the aircraft exceeded the speed of sound by climbing to a height of 25 kilometers

Multinational aerospace company Dawn Aerospace has made history with the successful supersonic flight of its Mk-II Aurora rocket-powered aircraft, making it one of the fastest privately developed aircraft on the planet.

The company, operating as Dawn Hypersonics, achieved its biggest feat on November 12, 2024, with Aurora surpassing the speed of sound for the first time, reaching Mach 1.1 and climbing to an altitude of 25 kilometers.

This is twice as high as commercial airliners, and marks the first time a civilian aircraft has flown at supersonic speeds since Concorde.

This achievement marks a major step toward operational hypersonic travel and everyday access to space, establishing rocket-powered aircraft as a new class of ultra-high-performance aircraft.

The flight, conducted by New Zealand's Glentanner near the base of Aoraki Mt Cook, exceeded target test speeds and altitudes of Mach 1,1 and 25 kilometres.

Aurora also set a global record, becoming the fastest aircraft to climb from ground level to 20 kilometers, completing the climb in just 118.6 seconds.

This beats the previous record, held by a heavily modified F-15 Streak Eagle in the 70s, by 4.2 seconds. /Telegraph/