What required speed must an aircraft theoretically achieve at 100 km to fly one pass?
Answer
Orbital velocity ($ ext{approx. } 7.8 ext{ kilometers per second}$)
At the altitude of 100 kilometers, the physical constraints of flight fundamentally change. To maintain flight merely for one pass before falling back to Earth, a vehicle would need to accelerate to orbital velocity. This speed is calculated to be approximately 7.8 kilometers per second. Since this speed vastly exceeds the capability of traditional, wing-borne, air-breathing aircraft, this velocity threshold serves as the practical argument demonstrating that sustained aerodynamic flight is no longer possible; vehicles must instead rely on inertia and orbital mechanics to remain 'aloft'.
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