Achieving hypersonic flight involves significant challenges, from extreme heating and stress on materials to fuel efficiency and control at such speeds. While Musk’s companies, including SpaceX, have pioneered breakthroughs in rocket technology, entering hypersonic speeds for commercial travel requires new approaches, including durable materials, sophisticated propulsion systems, and unprecedented engineering innovations.

SpaceX’s work on the Starship program and its Raptor engines, for instance, already pushes the limits of high-speed, reusable rocket technology. Combining similar principles in aviation could yield an aircraft capable of reaching extraordinary speeds—though not near light speed, which is a different realm entirely.