Boom Supersonic moved one step closer to re-introducing supersonic passenger service after another successful test flight on Monday of its XB-1 prototype jet. But this test was special, marking the first time a civilian aircraft has broken the sound barrier over the continental United States.
Boom Supersonic XB-1 Prototype Breaks Sounds Barrier Over California Desert
I’ve written extensively about Boom Supersonic and how both American Airlines and United Airlines have placed substantial orders for the next-generation Concorde jet, dubbed Overture. While Boom has not yet produced its first Overture aircraft, the XB-1 is a “technology demonstrator” built to test key components ahead of the production of Overture.
Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg, a former Navy Top Gun pilot, was chief test pilot for the flight, which took off from the Mojave Air & Space Port in California. It was the 12th test flight for the XB-1, but this one was special.
About 12 minutes into the flight, as the aircraft neared an altitude of 35,000 feet (10,668 meters), the XB-1 exceeded Mach 1, breaking the sound barrier and marking the first time a civil aircraft has gone supersonic over the continental United States.
(which brings back memories of the politics of the Concorde that often centered around the sound barrier…)
The aircraft went supersonic again at 17 minutes and 22 minutes into the flight before landing roughly 30 minutes after takeoff.
Boom advisor Greg Krauland, who once served as the company’s Chief Engineer, remarked:
“This is such a huge step, building the first civil supersonic jet, you know, right here in America. This jet really does have much of the enabling technologies that are going to enable us to go ahead and to build a commercial supersonic airliner that is available to the masses.”
Here’s video of the entire journey:
(the live stream was made possible by a Starlink mini-unit placed on the T-38 chase plane that trailed the XB-1)
CONCLUSION
While Overture, which plans to cut intercontinental travel times in half (last seen on the Concorde in 2003) and seat 64 to 80 passengers onboard, is still many years off, yesterday’s test flight shows 1.) this is serious and 2.) this is one step closer to reality.
Read More:
- American Airlines Announces Supersonic Aircraft Order
- United Airlines Announces Supersonic Aircraft Order
- United Airlines, Supersonic Jets, And The Power Of Marketing
image: BOOM! Supersonic.
Military aircraft have been doing this for a long time .
Yes, I met Chuck Yeager.
But this is a civilian venture, which makes it very noteworthy.
Noteworthy that a small plane flew supersonic in 2025, after 78 years of small planes flying supersonic? I guess it’s noteworthy that it wasn’t a military plane, but again, Concorde was a civilian supersonic plane and it’s first flight was over 55 years ago.
I don’t think there are any fundamental questions around the technical ability to build and fly this plane, eventually. It’s about the economics of building and operating it, and the ability to command premium prices that will support those costs- along with what markets, if any, will be viable. None of those have been answered in any substantive way, and I think it’s because they haven’t been solved- these are basic physics problems that can’t be just “innovated” away. Ben Schlappig has a good summary on OMAAT of these issues. I wish these folks good luck, but have seen zero info that makes me think this will actually be a viable business.
I don’t feel you should link that video since it was provided with Starlink, who is owned by a known Nazi.
And who would that be?
You obviously don’t follow CNN or MSNBC or read any social media where liberals hang if you even have to ask that.
Liberals have people that care about them in their lives so they aren’t sitting in front of the TV watching cable news alone all day.
But you are right, liberals do think Elon is a Nazi because he’s supporting the new German Nazi party and goes around doing Nazi salutes. You know, it’s funny, when you go around doing the heil Hitler salute, people tend to think you are a nazi.
Obviously, and judging from the ratings, the vast majority of people don’t follow CNN or MSNBC or listen to losers on social media….
However , the majority of people in U.S. own a television , and thus are vacant of thought .
When Selena Gomez walked her trash can to the curb , she was walking with her musical mind .
Why must every conversation descend into this?
Can’t we just say, good job Boom!
You have cultivated this audience
Now you will have commenters saying that your future UA flights will have Natzee wifi. It’s gon’ be rough.
I don’t think it’s just this audience.
1. Rich McCormack said children should get jobs instead of having free lunch at school.
2. Sean Duffy implied flying won’t be safe until DEI is eliminated
3. Karoline Leavitt furthered the claim the military “turned on the water” in California.
4. Stephen Miller demonized 98% of the federal workforce.
That all happened yesterday. Everything descends in to chaos, and at this points it seems intentional.
@Matthew … Without free speech , you will not have free thought .
Without free speech , you will have Big Brother brainwashing you with Newspeak .
The UK is policing free speech , which is a lesson .
What a beautiful design. The pointy nose not only looks good but will minimize the shock wave.
Yes, it’s a very handsome machine. Good luck to them, I say.
That beautiful “pointy nose” may be pretty and surely is aerodynamically appropriate. But it means the pilots CAN NOT SEE what’s right in front of them and what is or is not in the airplane’s path up ahead, including the runway during landings or an aborted takeoff or other non-planned event. So they’ll have a video screen with “augmented reality” to fly by. They might as well have just eliminated the cockpit window (which is actually more of a skylight – it mostly provides a great view of what’s straight up) and I’m sure an engineer suggested that – since removing the window/skylight would save weight, simplify the structure and eliminate multiple potential failure points – but the “optics” of that choice would probably doom the project (a lot of potential customers would balk at flying in a plane where the crew wouldn’t be able to see a brick wall straight ahead of them that they were going to try to fly through). Yeah, Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis made it from NY to Paris with only a periscope for forward visibility…hey, maybe they should include one of those…
No matter how much faith you have in all the electronics, there will come a day when those gizmos fail, and a pilot is going to have to look at where the plane is pointed to guide it to a non-catastrophic outcome.
I wish them luck but I don’t think this will ever carry a paid passenger. It’s interesting to watch but I can’t help wondering if maybe those Saudi investors could find a better use for all the money they are setting on fire (like maybe rebuilding Gaza).
@Dick … Perceptive comment . Concorde needed to lower it’s nose to see properly . There will never be a better Concorde , and it ought not to have been discontinued .
Dick, this is still a prototype flying from a proving ground! Untwist your knickers. Technology exists to address your issues. You might not be comfortable with it but life evolves. I personally would like to find out if they can improve the shock wave, that was an impediment for the Concorde.
Dick is the kind of guy that refuses to fly on anything that uses fly-by-wire. I love seeing the tech pushed forwards.
I’m not sure the Overture will ever be a going concern, but the right 10-15 seat business jet that can cruise at M1.7 and beat the Global/Gulfstream crowd plodding along at M0.85 could definitely be a winner, cutting maybe 3-4 hours off London-San Jose, or 4-5 hours off San Jose-Taipei. Those are big time-savings. Presuming the company can get the range right and solve the sonic boom problem, or course. There is still much work to be done.
Except no one with sense would go to or from San Jose or anywhere in Costa Rica .
San Jose California, SJC/KSCJ, the origin and destination of many a long-range business jet carrying the super-rich and/or super-influential between San Francisco/Silicon Valley and international finance/technology hubs such as Taipei and London.
Oh OK . Yet if they go supersonic , their fuel will burn earlier , will it not ? Concorde had limited range for this reason. So , to London or Taipei would need to refuel enroute , no ? This would increase journey time , no ?
Anyhow , why would going to London or Taipei necessitate supersonic speed , with stops enroute ? I cannot think of a practical reason .
Well I did mention that they had to get the range right, and it’s probably do-able. When Concorde entered commerical service, business jets managed about 3500 NM, and that’s if you had the largest and most capable one on the market. With flagship jets now being certified for 7700NM plus, things have obviously improved. There’s no reason to suspect that a new supersonic business jet would be subject to the same range constraints that applied to an aircraft designed and built 60 years ago. Engine and airframe tech has made considerable progress.
i know one of the main benefits that BOOM was touting was the decreased sound / shock waves from their design. has anyone found information about the sound / shock wave dampening from this test?