https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/05/virgin-galactic-is-partnering-with-nasa-to-develop-supersonic-point-to-point-air-travel/

Virgin Galactic today revealed a new partnership with NASA, in pursuit of the goal of developing a high speed vehicle for point-to-point travel across Earth. NASA has been pursuing development of high mach air travel itself, with the development of its Supersonic X-59 low-boon supersonic test plane built by Lockheed Martin, but this new partnership agreement with Virgin Galactic and its subsidiary The Spaceship Company specifically seeks to figure out a sustainable way to apply high-speed transportation technologies to civil and commercial aviation.

Virgin Galactic thinks that it will be able to get a head start on this project specifically because of the work it’s done to date on developing, engineering and flight-testing its existent vehicles, which include the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft, and the SpaceShipTwo winged spacecraft that launches from the carrier to reach the edge of space. The design of the company’s system uses traditional runways for take-off and landing, while the rocket-propelled SpaceShipTwo skims the outer edge of Earth’s atmosphere at the boundary of space to provide its commercial tourist passengers with a trip that includes stunning views and a few minutes of weightlessness.