Boom Supersonic achieved a historic milestone on Friday, March 22, as its prototype aircraft, the XB-1, took its inaugural flight. This signals a significant leap forward in reintroducing commercial supersonic aviation.
The XB-1, built by Colorado-based Boom Supersonic, flew over the Mojave Desert, reaching a maximum altitude of 7,120 feet, reaching a top speed of 273 mph before landing safely after a 12-minute flight.
“I’ve been looking forward to this flight since founding Boom in 2014, and it marks the most significant milestone yet on our path to bring supersonic travel to passengers worldwide,” said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic.
XB-1 lays ground for Boom’s Overture airliner
The XB-1 is the the world’s first independently developed supersonic jet and paves the way for Boom’s mission to launch Overture — the first supersonic commercial aircraft since Concorde ended operations 20 years ago.
The XB-1 prototype is one-third the size of Overture, but leverages the same advanced technologies to enable efficient supersonic flight. The next phase will involve pushing XB-1’s performance, handling qualities and achieving speeds faster than Mach 1.
The inaugural flight takes place as Overture continues to advance toward production. Having partnered with Florida Turbine Technologies and GE Additive, Boom aims to develop engines three times more powerful than the XB-1’s to meet Overture’s performance goal of Mach 1.7.
With further testing planned, XB-1 aims to provide insights on cost, safety, efficiency and sustainability for Overture’s development. With a targeted first flight in 2027 and certification in 2029, Boom believes Overture will usher in a new era of supersonic flight at twice the speed of today’s airliners.
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