Understandably, considering the huge technical challenges involved, the Bloodhound SSC project is still a while away from being ready to rumble along on its way to hopefully smash the current land speed record. As that age old idiom goes, though, "the best things come to those who wait," and we're especially glad to report you won't have to be patient for much longer before you'll get to see the single-seater jet car streak across a South African salt pan on its way into the history books.

Though a specific, to-the-day date hasn't been officially cited as of yet, the Bloodhound Company has officially revealed the SSC will be making its first ever high speed run in the Kalahari Desert sometime in October 2017; 20 years to the month since ThrustSSC smashed the sound barrier and the prior record (which was coincidentally held by Richard Noble, the project director of the Bloodhound record attempt). The Bloodhound SSC team won't be initially heading for the headline-grabbing 1,000 mph target, however, though the aims of reaching 800 mph on the demo runs will, if successful, still mean Bloodhound will surpass the 768 mph record currently held by the aforementioned ThrustSSC.

That's not to say Bloodhound will be kept hidden away under lock and key for the next 15 months. In fact, the Bloodhound Company will be performing the first ever powertrain shakedown of the car later this month, where the speeds attained are expected to top out at "only" 220 mph or so.

During this testing period in July, Bloodhound's on-board camera and data transmission systems will also be trialed, so any issues that may affect the car's ability to transmit telemetry data and live footage back to base and onto the Internet respectively will be found and ironed out before Bloodhound begins its high speed journey into the annals of land speed record history.