Sydney to UK in just two hours

Passengers will be able to travel from London to Sydney in less than two hours within a decade by travelling via space, according to new research.

Medical studies funded by the UK Civil Aviation Authority showed the effects of suborbital space flights on passengers were mostly “benign”, The Times reports.

Suborbital flights blast travellers into space before rapidly descending to their destination.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority study, published in the journal Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance, said: “Commercial suborbital space flights are now available for tourism and scientific research, and are ultimately anticipated to mature into extremely fast point-to-point travel, eg London to Sydney in less than two hours.”

The existing flight time from London to Sydney takes about 22 hours.

At more than $655,000 per seat, suborbital flights offered by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic are the domain of the super-rich.

Regulators however, believe they will eventually become accessible to everybody, The Times reports.

The research found that those taking such flights would not need to be young or superfit, with older people potentially even better able to cope with space travel.

Dr Ryan Anderton, the CAA’s medical lead for space flight, said: “Physiological responses are likely to be benign for most passengers.”

Astronauts need to be extremely fit, but this will not be necessary for spacebound holiday-makers, The Times reports. Certain medical problems could make it dangerous to experience high G-forces, the report said.

Virgin Galactic is gearing up for its first flight to the edge of space in nearly two years, CNN reports.