Supersonic Commercial Air Travel Is On Its Way
And with (mostly) private dollars.
Boom Supersonic independently designed and built the XB-1, the first civil supersonic jet in America. The XB-1's first supersonic flight last month was a success, breaking the sound barrier above the Mojave Desert while producing a sonic boom that was inaudible from the ground. Boom's success highlights the potential of the private sector to deliver large-scale supersonic passenger air travel—something governments have struggled to accomplish.
Boom says that its Overture supersonic passenger jet, which uses much of the XB-1's technology, will profitably carry 64–80 passengers at a cruise speed of Mach 1.7—twice the speed of subsonic passenger jets—on over 600 routes. The jet's features include an augmented reality system that provides pilots runway visibility otherwise inhibited by the Overture's long nose, a carbon fiber composite airframe whose light weight is more fuel-efficient than aluminum, and specialized intakes that enable the Overture to use (relatively) quiet turbofan engines instead of the deafening turbojet engines featured on the Concorde.
Boom reports 130 Overture orders and pre-orders from airlines, including American, which will purchase 20 Overture aircraft, and United, which will purchase 15. Last June, Boom finished building its Overture manufacturing facility in Greensboro, North Carolina, which will produce 33 Overture aircraft annually. The company projects the first Overture airliners coming out in 2025, flying in 2026, and carrying passengers by 2029.
In a press release, Boom emphasizes that supersonic aircraft have historically "been the work of nation states, developed by militaries and governments," and it's right. The only supersonic airliners ever made, the Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144, were not private ventures.
The Concorde was a project of the United Kingdom and France. The Anglo-French Agreement of 1962 committed both governments to split the costs of jointly developing the supersonic transport aircraft, which entered commercial service in 1976. The firms that manufactured the Concorde were primarily the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) and Aérospatiale. The BAC, though private, was the result of a forced merger between English Electric, Vickers-Armstrong, and the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1960. The BAC's Concorde operations were funded entirely by the British government while Aérospatiale was owned and operated by the French government.
The Tupolev Tu-144, a product of the Soviet Union, never had the pretense of private development. The Council of Ministers approved its development in 1963 to fly no later than 1968. The first flight of the prototype Tu-144 was on December 31, 1968, satisfying the Air Ministry's five-year plan. Passenger flights began in 1977 to coincide with the 60-year anniversary of the October Revolution. Due to hundreds of failures and high-profile crashes resulting from its poor design, the Tu-144 was taken out of passenger service in June 1978.
While the cost of the Tu-144 is opaque due to the nature of the Soviet Union's economy, the Concorde cost the U.K. and France approximately $16 billion ($1.44 billion each in 1976). Unlike the completely publicly funded Concorde and the state-made Tu-144, only a fraction of Boom's assets have come from government sources.
Boom received a $7 million Small Business Innovation Research contract to provide the U.S. Air Force with data collected on XB-1 test flights in 2020. In 2022, the Air Force awarded Boom a $60 million Strategic Funding Increase toward the Overture,"a potential future platform for the Air Force," according to Boom CEO Blake Scholl. Private investors include Y Combinator, 8VC, Prime Movers Lab, Japan Airlines, Emerson Capital Partners, Celesta Capital, and American Express Ventures. Saudi Arabia's NEOM Investment Fund, which is funded by the nation's sovereign wealth fund, has also invested in Boom.
Altogether, only a small share of Boom's $700 million in total funding has come from the American taxpayer. What was once only attempted by governments has nearly been surpassed by private entrepreneurship and investment.
