Japan completed the first successful test of a model of its planned successor to Concorde — an aircraft that can fly at twice the speed of sound.

Three years ago, a similar unmanned test ended in a fiery crash in the Australian Outback.



The small model, about 38 feet long, was flown Monday in Woomera, South Australia.



The arrow-shaped, engineless prototype with swept-back wings was carried aloft by a solid fuel rocket, The International Tribune reported. The IHT said the aircraft reached an altitude of 11.8 miles and a speed of Mach 2, or 1,520 miles per hour, and then floated back to Earth by parachute.



The $10 million project is part of an effort to produce a 300-passenger supersonic aircraft that can fly between Tokyo and Los Angeles in about four hours.



More here.