Boom Supersonic jet breaks sound barrier on first flight

Almost 22 years after Concorde made its final commercial flight, a prototype passenger jet has broken the sound barrier during a supersonic test flight.

- TOM WATLING

Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 aircraft climbed over 35,000ft on Tuesday before accelerating to Mach 1.1 speed and breaking the sound barrier in three high-speed runs spanning 35 minutes over the Mojave Desert in California. It is the first civilian aircraft to achieve the feat since the British-French supersonic airliner, which was retired in 2003.

Boom Supersonic founder and CEO Blake Scholl praised his team for accomplishing a feat that has been confined to the work of governments and militaries for the last two decades. “XB-1’s supersonic flight demonstrates that the technology for passenger supersonic flight has arrived,” he said. “A small band of talented and dedicated engineers has accomplished what previously took governments and billions of dollars. Next, we are scaling up the technology on XB-1 for the Overture supersonic airliner. Our ultimate goal is to bring the benefits of supersonic flight to everyone.”