Two decades after the Concorde tragedy that would ultimately spell the end for the airliner and supersonic flight, another company will try to fly passengers faster than the speed of sound. Boom Supersonic will debut the prototype and demonstrator XB-1 in October this year.
Picking up where Concorde left off, Boom Supersonic is on a mission to deliver faster and safer flights, in premium conditions and at decent fares. The first plane from the Colorado company will be called Overture, while the prototype and demonstrator, a 1:3 version of the same, has been dubbed XB-1.
XB-1, which looks very much like a fighter jet and doesn’t carry any passengers, just the pilot, will be formally introduced in a virtual event on October 7, 2020. It is then scheduled for aerial test flights for 2021, with plans for Overture to follow suit, if all goes according to plan.
Speaking of plans, Boom says it will be flying passengers on Overture by 2030: some 55-75 people on board the plane, traveling at Mach 2.2 speeds that will cut down travel times in half. For example, a flight from London to New York will take about 3.5 hours.
Overture comes with 1-on-1 seating, oversized windows and premium on-board amenities, so the experience of flying long-distance will be a premium one. According to Boom Supersonic, it will also be surprisingly affordable, unlike was the case with Concorde.
Just as impressive should be the fact that both XB-1 and Overture will be 100 percent carbon neutral, according to a press release. Carbon-neutral doesn’t mean emissions-free: carbon neutrality is achieved through other means, which measure the amount of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere during a flight and then allow you to “match” that through a donation. In a (very simplistic) nutshell, you pay a non-profit to plant some trees on your behalf, for the pollution you caused by flying.
This in itself isn’t a bad thing – but it’s not what it might look like, either.
Boom Supersonic counts on Virgin Group and Japan Airlines as investors, and they’ve already ordered some reported 30 aircraft at $200 million a piece. Interest in supersonic flight exists.
“With XB-1, we’re demonstrating that we are prepared to bring back supersonic,” Blake Scholl, Boom founder and CEO, says. “We’re ensuring that the supersonic future is safe and environmentally and economically sustainable. We’ve learned that the demand for supersonic has grown even faster than we anticipated.”
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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