Supersonic airliner project has dismal start `down under'

The rocket that carried supersonic model aircraft explodes on impact after it crashed into the desert at the Woomera rocket range in Australia, yesterday. PHOTO: REUTERS

A scale model of a Japanese supersonic jetliner exploded shortly after it was launched yesterday on the back of a booster rocket and crashed into the central Australian desert, witnesses said.

The disastrous end to the first test of Japan's National Experimental Supersonic Transport, or NEXST, came just seconds after its takeoff from the Woomera rocket testing range.

Nobody was injured in the crash as both the rocket and the model plane were unmanned.

The Japanese government-funded project aims to build a plane that would fly at twice the speed of sound, with the supersonic boom reduced to the rumble of a Boeing 747.

It would fly twice the distance of the Concorde and seat three times the passengers.

After the rocket climbed to about 100m, it turned over and began spiraling erratically through the air before slamming into the ground and exploding, witnesses at the test site said.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

The Japanese team responsible for the test did not immediately comment but were expected to give a press conference sometime later.

The launch had been postponed several times because the wind was too strong in the desert.

The 11m model was to have ridden piggyback on the booster rocket to a height of 20km at a speed of 2,450kph.

After performing a barrel roll, the booster was supposed to release the model, which would glide to earth in a 14-minute flight to test its automatic flight and control systems.

It was not immediately clear what effect the crash would have on a further three tests planned for later this year to test the model's aerodynamics, which were developed through computer simulations seeking to cut the noise of supersonic flight in half.

In phase two of the US$200 million project, 20 tests under powered flight have been set to begin in late 2005.

The project is being run by Japan's government-run National Aerospace Laboratory.

Boeing Co, which is developing its own "Sonic Cruiser" -- designed to fly at just under the speed of sound -- was eagerly awaiting the results of the Japanese project.

Wade Cornelius, Boeing's vice president for global strategy said a successful test could lead to some cooperation between Boeing and the Japanese team.