CANBERRA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Scientists have successfully completed a hypersonic flight trial in southern Australia, with the test vehicle traveling faster than five times the speed of sound.

    The May 7 flight, seen as a step toward building next-generation air vehicles that could dramatically reduce inter-continental travel times, was the first of up to ten planned flight experiments to be conducted at Woomera, the Australian Department of Defense said on its website.

    The flights are part of a joint research program between the Australian Defense Science and Technology Organization (DSTO) and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.

    "This trial has successfully tested the flight and mission control systems that will be used in future experiments," said Minister for Defense Science and Personnel Warren Snowdon in a statement released Friday.

    "Using nitrogen gas valves as thrusters to maneuver the test vehicle in space, the test vehicle was turned onto the correct heading and elevation for re-entry into the atmosphere as designed."

    Snowdon noted that this trial has "given scientists a wealth of new data and demonstrated that hypersonic flight could become a reality in the not too distant future."

    So far, the Australian-U.S. collaboration, he said, had already achieved some significant milestones such as the design, assembly and pre-flight testing of hypersonic vehicles and the design of complex avionics and flight systems.

    "Hypersonic technology offers a quantum leap in speed and fuel efficiency for air vehicles of the future," Snowdon said. "Thanks to the work of this dedicated team of DSTO scientists, Australia is at the forefront of this technology."