Here are messages from Head of Supersonic Transport Team.
To read the messages, click here.

Research and Development on Next Generation Supersonic Aircraft Technology

Presently internationalization of our life, business and industry has made great progress and passenger transport capacity is forecast to become about 2.5 times as many as the current value by 2015, in which Asian area would show the highest rate of increase. Appearance of a next generation supersonic transport aircraft with a flight speed 2 times faster than that of current large subsonic transport aircrafts and about 300 passengers will make great strides in international business and sightseeing through the reduction of flight hour.

JAXA aims to develop a “quiet and supersonic passenger aircraft” that is more economical and environment friendly and expects this to be achieved in the 21st century. We also strive to promote "Research and Development on Next Generation Silent Supersonic Aircraft Technology" to establish the advanced technologies necessary for improving economic efficiency and environmental compatibility based on research achievements through the flight experiments of the NEXTS-1 project, a small supersonic experiment aircraft project, in 2005.
Through “R&D on Next Generation Silent Supersonic Aircraft Technology,” JAXA conducts key basic research on noise reduction technologies for take-off and landing, resistance reduction technology, and technology for reducing the weight, while placing first priority on design technology to reduce the impact of the “sonic boom,” the noise associated with supersonic aircraft.

D-SEND Project

JAXA has established the Drop test for Simplified Evaluation of Non-symmetrically Distributed sonic boom (D-SEND) project to verify and evaluate an advanced design concept and method for reducing the supersonic boom in half, which is one of the major themes for R&D on silent supersonic aircraft technology. The D-SEND project consists of two phases of drop tests, D-SEND#1 and D-SEND#2, and we will confirm and verify our design concept using an unmanned non power-driven small experimental craft equipped with technology to halve the sonic boom.
We are carrying out the D-SEND project to validate the low sonic boom design concept, which is internationally recognized as a technologically highly prioritized issue, and to acquire a sonic boom measuring method that contributes to the deliberation of international standards for sonic booms.