Supersonic & Aerospace
Encyclopedia
The Definitive Guide to Aircraft That Break the Sound Barrier — and the Machines That Leave It Behind
Explore 146 supersonic, hypersonic & stealth aircraft and 21 rockets & spacecraft from around the world
Aviation & Space News
The latest in aircraft, defense technology, spaceflight & supersonic aviation
Taiwan’s first F-16V Block 70 jets reach Guam
Serials 6727 and 6728, the first of a delayed 66-jet order, are waiting on weather before the final hop to Taitung’s Chihhang Air Base.
Saab unveils a fighter-size uncrewed wingman
The A3-001 mock-up at Malmen is built for SEAD, electronic warfare and strike beside Gripen. Demonstrators are supposed to fly before 2030.
Germany flies a drone built to launch IRIS-T
POLARIS Spaceplanes’ COBRA prototype covered more than 20 km on its first flight, without a missile aboard.
LandSpace lands a Zhuque-3 booster, then it tips over
China’s first private orbital booster landing on legs ended with a pad fire and a collapsed landing gear.
E-2D Block II clears its critical design review
The Navy’s carrier-borne radar aircraft is moving from detailed design into integration and retrofit work.
The largest battery-electric aircraft ever flown takes off
Heart Aerospace’s full-scale X1 flew for 27 minutes, reached 1,100 feet and delivered more than one megawatt of electric power.
Japan’s H3 launches QZS-7 with a U.S. space-tracking sensor
The navigation satellite carries the second U.S. hosted payload built to watch geosynchronous orbit over the Indo-Pacific.
Speed Comparison
From Mach 1 to Mach 9.6 — every aircraft ranked by maximum velocity
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| Rank | Aircraft | Max Speed (Mach) | Speed (km/h) | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NASA X-43A | Mach 9.6 | 11,856 km/h | Hypersonic |
| 2 | North American X-15 | Mach 6.7 | 8,275 km/h | Hypersonic |
| 3 | Lockheed Martin SR-72 Son of Blackbird | Mach 6 | 7,410 km/h | Hypersonic |
| 4 | Boeing X-51 Waverider | Mach 5.1 | 6,299 km/h | Hypersonic |
| 5 | Boeing X-51A Waverider | Mach 5.1 | 6,299 km/h | Hypersonic |
| 6 | Hermeus Halcyon | Mach 5 | 6,175 km/h | Hypersonic |
| 7 | Convair Kingfish | Mach 4 | 4,940 km/h | High Supersonic |
| 8 | Republic XF-103 Thunderwarrior | Mach 3.7 | 4,570 km/h | High Supersonic |
| 9 | Lockheed D-21 | Mach 3.35 | 4,137 km/h | High Supersonic |
| 10 | Lockheed A-12 OXCART | Mach 3.35 | 4,137 km/h | High Supersonic |
Fighter Aircraft
The world’s most advanced air superiority and multirole combat platforms
F-22 Raptor
5th-generation stealth fighter. Supercruise. Unmatched air dominance.
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F-15 Eagle
104 victories, zero losses. The definitive air superiority fighter.
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F-14 Tomcat
Variable-sweep wings. Phoenix missiles. Top Gun legend.
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F-16 Falcon
World’s most produced 4th-gen fighter. 4,600+ built.
ExploreStealth Aircraft
Invisible warriors — engineered to defeat the most advanced detection systems
F-117 Nighthawk
The world’s first operational stealth aircraft. Faceted design.
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B-2 Spirit
$2.1 billion flying wing. Global strike capability. Only 21 built.
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B-21 Raider
Next-generation strategic bomber. AI-enabled.
ExploreF-22 Raptor
All-aspect stealth combined with supercruise.
ExploreExperimental & Hypersonic
From Mach 3 to Mach 9.6 — the fastest machines ever built
X-43A
Fastest aircraft ever. Scramjet-powered.
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X-15
Fastest crewed aircraft ever. Reached the edge of space.
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X-51 Waverider
Longest scramjet flight. Rides its own shockwave.
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SR-71 Blackbird
Never intercepted. Fastest air-breathing crewed aircraft.
ExploreStrategic Bombers
Supersonic bombers designed to strike targets across continents
Supersonic Airliners
When civilians flew faster than sound
Rockets & Spacecraft
From Saturn V to Starship — the encyclopedia leaves the atmosphere
Saturn V
NASA's 110.6 m Moon rocket launched every Apollo lunar mission and Skylab, sending 140,000…
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Starship
SpaceX's fully reusable two-stage giant: 121 m tall with about 74,000 kN of thrust,…
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International Space Station (ISS)
A 420-tonne laboratory the size of a football field, orbiting at 28,000 km/h and…
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Parker Solar Probe
The fastest human-made object ever: NASA's Sun-skimming probe hit 692,000 km/h in December 2024,…
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Discover more about the world of supersonic aviation