Boom Supersonic has achieved a major milestone in its quest for supersonic commercial travel by breaking the sound barrier for the first time during a test flight in Mojave, California.
The Colorado-based aerospace company, designing a supersonic airliner named the Overture, said its demonstrator aircraft, XB-1, entered the supersonic corridor and reached an altitude of 35,290 feet before accelerating to Mach 1.122 (652 KTAS or 750 mph), breaking the sound barrier for the first time.
XB-1's supersonic flight took place in the same historic airspace where Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier for the first time in 1947. The first supersonic flight of XB-1 marks the first human-piloted civil supersonic flight since Concorde's retirement over 20 years ago, paving the way for the return of commercial supersonic flight onboard Overture.
"I've been waiting over 20 years for the return of supersonic speeds, and XB-1's historic flight is a major landmark towards my dreams being realized.," said Mike Bannister, former Chief Concorde Pilot for British Airways, who last flew Concorde in 2003. He congratulated Tristan 'Geppetto' Brandenburg, Chief Test Pilot for Boom Supersonic.
Overture has the capacity to carry up to 80 passengers at Mach 1.7, about twice the speed of today's subsonic airliners, on more than 600 international routes.
The next-gen passenger flight is designed to run on up to 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel.
The XB-1, which is the precursor to Overture, has now completed 12 successful test flights since March 2024.
Previously, supersonic aircraft have been developed by militaries and governments. XB-1's supersonic flight marks the first time an independently developed jet has broken the sound barrier.
Following its inaugural flight in March 2024, XB-1 completed a rigorous series of 11 human-piloted test flights under increasingly challenging conditions to evaluate systems and aerodynamics. Over the course of the flight test campaign, the XB-1 team systematically expanded the flight envelope through subsonic, transonic, and supersonic speeds.
Boom Supersonic said it has a booking of 130 orders and pre-orders for Overture from American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines. Last year, Boom completed construction on the Overture Superfactory in Greensboro, North Carolina, which will scale to produce 66 Overture aircraft per year.
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