On Tuesday, January 28th, the XB-1 test aircraft of Boom Supersonic company conducted a test flight at an altitude of about 35,000 feet (10,670 meters) over the Mojave Desert in northwest Los Angeles, marking the first privately-funded aircraft to break the sound barrier.
Boom Supersonic is an American company dedicated to creating the fastest passenger aircraft in the world. The XB-1 test aircraft’s supersonic flight this time represents the first independent development of a jet aircraft to break the sound barrier.
Since its first flight in March 2024, XB-1 has successfully completed 12 test flights. On Tuesday, XB-1 took off from Mojave Air and Space Port to carry out its latest flight mission. At that time, it was flying in the same historic airspace where legendary pilot Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in 1947.
Piloted by Boom’s Chief Test Pilot, Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg, the aircraft accelerated to 1.122 Mach (652 knots true airspeed or 750 miles per hour) at an altitude of about 35,000 feet approximately 12 minutes into the test flight—approximately 10% faster than the speed of sound.
Prior to the test flight on January 28th, the highest speed reached by XB-1 was 0.95 Mach, slightly below the supersonic threshold of 1 Mach, which was achieved during a test flight on January 10th.
The successful test flight of XB-1 on January 28th validated several key technologies, including carbon fiber composite materials, digital stability augmentation system, and supersonic intake.
On March 25, 1970, the Concorde 002 prototype aircraft first flew at 1 Mach speed, nearly 55 years have passed since then. With the Concorde’s final flight in November 2003, commercial supersonic travel came to an end, marking 21 years until now.
Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 serves as the stepping stone for the company’s commercial viable supersonic passenger aircraft project, Overture. The aircraft is designed to carry 64-80 passengers across the Atlantic in approximately 3.5 hours. With a flying speed of 1.7 Mach, it is approximately twice as fast as current subsonic passenger aircraft.
Overture will feature a new propulsion system called Symphony, and the company is collaborating with multiple partners to develop compatible new engines, including Florida Turbine Technologies for engine design, GE Additive for additive technology design consultation, and StandardAero for maintenance, among others.
The company has received orders and pre-orders for 130 aircraft from American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines.
Last year, the company’s Overture Superfactory in Greensboro, North Carolina was completed, with plans to produce 66 Overture aircraft annually.