The Italian project to fly at supersonic speed

It is Italian the project that promises to get us back to supersonic speed travel on civil aircraft while also protecting the environment.

It is Italian the project that promises to get us back to supersonic speed travel on civil aircraft. Supersonic aviation is the focus of new research and testing involving companies, universities and research centers to develop a civil aviation system that is fast, safe and environmentally friendly.

One of the most interesting international projects is MOREandLESS - MDO and REgulations for Low-boom and Environmentally Sustainable Supersonic aviation, financed through European funds of the H2020 program and coordinated by Nicole Viola, Professor of Aerospace Systems and Plants in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering - DIMEAS at the Politecnico di Torino. The objective of the research is to aim at supersonic flights that are safe and respect the environment, limiting the emission of noise and greenhouse gases.

The focus of the study is propulsion, pollutant emissions, climate science and elements of aerodynamics to propose guidelines for the EU and the international community (which is represented by Boom Technology and Boeing, two American companies). Soon MOREandLESS will establish a dialogue with the regulatory bodies of the European Union and the USA, starting the development of supersonic aircraft models with low environmental impact, in addition new types of fuels such as biofuel and liquid hydrogen will be tested. Students, engineers and scientists will be involved in the project to manage the development of supersonic and sustainable aviation.

MOREandLESS brings together universities, research centers, businesses and industries. Coinvolgendo il Politecnico di Torino, il Boom Technology e The Boeing Company negli Stati Uniti, il Centro Italiano Ricerche Aerospaziali, il Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ed ENVISA SAS in Francia, il Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e Technische Universität Hamburg-TUHH in Germania e l’Institut Franco-Allemand De Recherches de Saint Louis-ISL. Troviamo inoltre l’ECATS International Association AISBL e Institut Von Karman de Dynamique des Fluides in Belgio, la Fundación de Ingeniería Civil de Galicia
in Spagna, l’Institutul National De Cercetare-Dezvoltare Aerospatiala “Elie Carafoli" in Romania, l’Lunds Universitet-LUND in Svezia e il Delft University of Technology-TU Delft in Olanda.

"We are going through a historical moment for aviation and for many other engineering sectors, which in the next years will have to face a difficult ecological transition in order to achieve the objectives of the Green Deal in Europe - explained Professor Nicole Viola -. The H2020 MORE&LESS project, which I have the honor of coordinating, fits into this context. The project has the ambitious goal of collaborating in the definition of new standards for supersonic civil aviation with low environmental impact, through a holistic approach that includes rigorous mathematical modeling and experimental activities at the frontier".