Space: Flights from UK to Australia could take as little as two hours

Travelling from the UK to Australia by plane usually takes around 22 hours - nearly a whole day - often with a stop in another country too.

But new research from the Civil Aviation Authority suggests the trip may only take two hours in the near future.

How can that be possible? By flying into space of course!

It's called a 'suborbital' flight and it's thought more people will be able to make the most of them in the next 10 years.

You might have heard this term before when Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic reached the edge of space for the first time back in 2018.

People aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle - owned by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos - also experienced around 4 minutes of weightlessness from a suborbital trip in 2021.

But what exactly does a suborbital flight mean?

It's a space flight where the spacecraft reaches outer space, but not fast enough to be able to stay in space once there.

If a spacecraft is travelling around 17,500 mph, it should fall into orbit - continuously travelling around Earth - like satellites do.

But anything travelling slower than that will return to Earth, but would be able to reach faraway destinations a lot faster than by plane.

According to The Sunday Times, research from the Civil Aviation Authority found that most people will be able to handle the flight's G-force - the measure of acceleration we feel due to the force of gravity.

But more medical studies will need to be carried out before anyone can board a flight - for example people with certain medical conditions may not be able to travel for health reasons.

The flights also cost a LOT of money - travellers are currently looking at around £350,000 for one seat on a suborbital flight.

And the third downside is the impact on the environment.

According to scientists at Northern Sky Research, a single suborbital space tourism flight, lasting around an hour and a half, can generate as much pollution as a 10-hour flight in a standard plane.

Some of the vehicles used in these flights use a hybrid engine which also burns rubber - leaves behind a cloud of this - currently not a lot is known about its impact on our climate or environment.