As soon as 2018, we could fly from Sydney to London in two hours

The standard flight duration from Sydney to London is approximately 22 regardless of the route a concern airline uses. Luckily, there have been many experiments and trials of hypersonic travel, and one is displaying favorable results that could enable us to travel the same journey in two-hour by 2018.
The first test for this group was carried out in 2009 and saw the US and Australian military scientists combine resource with the aim of creating an engine that could hit the target speed of Mach 7.5, which is more than seven times the speed of sound. Boeing and German space agency later on joined the project.
For rockets and jets to be classified as hypersonic, it has to travel five times the speed of sound, which is scientifically referred to as Mach 5. The latest trial of the jet at the world’s largest landing testing site in Australia saw the rocket record a target speed of Mach 7.5, (5760 miles per hour) reaching an altitude of 279 kilometers. A supersonic combustion engine that uses oxygen as fuel powers the rocket.
According to Alex Zelinsky, an Australian chief scientist working on the project, the jet they are designing could revolutionize global air travel and provide cost-efficient access to space. Michael Smart, a hypersonic expert from the University of Queensland who is also working on the project notes that, with this engine, it will be possible to travel long distance over the earth very very quickly. They jet itself is also very useful as an alternative to a rocket for placing satellites into space.
The team is planning to run ten trials on the rocket before the launch with the next trial scheduled for 2017. Other teams have also in the past been working on the hypersonic technology. Earlier this year a concept design for Antipode was released. The Antipode could travel from London to New York in just 11 minutes. Space Aerospace is also working on a 12 to 18 seater supersonic private jet that can cross the Atlantic in under four hour. Airbus has also filed a patent for a jet called Concorde 2 that could make the journey in an hour.