An unmanned prototype of the 18 passenger S-512 Quiet Supersonic Jet has taken to the skies for its first ever flight.

Spike Aerospace, the firm behind the radical new "son of Concorde", said the maiden test flight was a "huge success".

Prototypes of supersonic jets with top speeds of 1,354 mph have only been carried out in wind tunnels to date.

But now the futuristic jet has been tested in a "real world situation", according to Spike.

Spike is competing with NASA and Virgin Airlines to develop a commercial supersonic jet capable of breaking the 767 mph sound barrier.

Last month NASA revealed that it had carried out breakthrough tests of its version of the supersonic jet.

Experts working on the £289million ($390million) project tested the latest prototype inside a massive wind tunnel at NASA's Langley Research Center.

Now Spike have gone one step further by carrying out seven short flights to examine the design and flight controls of the jet.