Imagine travelling faster the speed of sound. Here it comes. After nearly two decades of commercial airline Concord, Boom Supersonic’s passenger aircraft can cross the sound barrier. On 28th January 2025 Boom supersonic successfully tested its XB-1 Supersonic transport airliner that crossed 1.12 mach in air. Supersonic Speed was achieved and live streamed when XB-1 was at 35000 feet altitude.
Shailesh Kumar, National Defence
New Delhi, 29 January 2025
The airliner intends to travel at 1.7 mach however, it is designed to achieve a speed of 2.2 mach. To understand simply, the speed of sound is how fast vibrations travel. At 20 °C or 68 °F, the speed of sound in air, is about 343 m/s or say 1,125 ft/s or 1,235 km/h; in miles it is 767 mph or in knots it is 667 kn. To simplify once can travel at 1 km in 2.91 s or one mile in 4.69 s. It depends strongly on temperature as well as the medium through which a sound wave is propagating.
The history was made at Mojave Air & Space Port, California and signifies the return of supersonic commercial travel, which has not been seen since the pull back of the Concorde over two decades ago.
The XB-1—which Boom describes as “the world’s first independently developed supersonic jet”—took to the skies amid anticipation and excitement. Earlier flights had already showcased the aircraft’s capabilities, with the XB-1 reaching speeds of Mach 0.95 and altitudes nearing 30,000 feet.
Blake Scholl, CEO of Boom Supersonic, expressed the significance of this flight, stating, “This feels surreal. This is supersonic flight’s ‘Falcon 1’ moment. We wanted to build our safety technology and culture, we design XB-1 without an ejection seat. There are literally no outs – the airplane must land safely.” Scholl praised America and its culture that promotes ordinary citizens to pursue bigger things in life successfully.
The supersonic aviation market has been largely dormant since the Concorde ceased operations due to its high costs and environmental concerns. Boom’s goal is different; they aim to create the “Overture,” a larger commercial airliner capable of carrying 64 to 80 passengers at speeds of up to Mach 1.7, or about twice the speed of current airliners. However, the top speed of XB-1 is likely 2.2 mach. The aircraft is also being developed with sustainability at its core, with appropriate measures to reduce emissions and utilize sustainable aviation fuels.
Each of the XB-1’s 12 test flights has progressively pushed the envelope, demonstrating advancements and providing the data necessary for Overture’s development. On this historic flight, after reaching target altitude, the XB-1 was expected to accelerate beyond the speed of sound, marking another triumph for the young aerospace startup.
During the test, Chief Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg took the controls, guiding the XB-1 to 34,428 feet as the aircraft hit supersonic speeds crossing sound barrier. During the 33 minute 49 seconds flight, Boom Chief Test Pilot Tristan ‘Geppetto’ Brandenburg took XB-1 to an altitude of 35,000 feet when aircraft reached maximum 1.12 mach in latest supersonic flight. After the flight test pilot told that the company did had a plan B in case of emergency.
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