The world’s first independently developed supersonic jet, the XB-1, has broken the sound barrier in a test flight above the Mojave Desert in California.
The plane on Tuesday reached an altitude of more than 10km during the test before accelerating to Mach 1.1 (1,358kph) – past the speed of sound. XB-1’s supersonic flight marks the first time an independently developed jet has broken the sound barrier.
Boom Supersonic is testing the jet as a prototype to develop the Overture plane in the next decade, which will carry 64 to 80 passengers at about twice the speed of today’s subsonic aircraft and run on up to 100 per cent sustainable aviation fuel.
Two decades after Concorde’s retirement, the XB-1 marks the return of a civil supersonic aircraft to the skies and paves the way for the revival of mainstream supersonic travel.
Carriers including American Airlines, United Airlines and Japan Airlines have already lodged 130 orders for the plane. The company is also working the US government to determine how it could be used for defence purposes.
After its inaugural flight in March 2024, XB-1 completed a rigorous series of 11 human-piloted test flights under increasingly challenging conditions to evaluate systems and aerodynamics.
Over the course of the flight test campaign, the XB-1 team systematically expanded flight speeds through subsonic, transonic and supersonic.
Boom’s XB-1 features state-of-the-art technology to enable efficient supersonic flight including carbon-fibre composites, advanced avionics, digitally optimised aerodynamics and an advanced supersonic propulsion system.
“Today's a day that I've been looking forward to for more than a decade,” said Blake Scholl, Boom’s chief executive, after the test flight. “It is time to bring supersonic flight back, time to bring it back for all of us."
XB-1 is made almost entirely from carbon-fibre composite materials, creating an aerodynamic design that is strong but lightweight. Air is slowed from supersonic to subsonic speeds before entering the plane's engine, efficiently converting kinetic energy into pressure energy, allowing conventional jet engines to power XB-1 from take-off through to supersonic flight.
The XB-1 has two nose-mounted cameras, digitally augmented with attitude and flight path indications that feed a high-resolution pilot display enabling excellent runway visibility. This system enables improved aerodynamic efficiency without the weight and complexity of a movable nose.
Engineers used computer simulations to explore thousands of designs for XB-1, resulting in an optimised one that they say combines safe and stable operation at take-off and landing with efficiency at supersonic speeds.
“Tomorrow, we're back to work because it's time to time to go big. It's time to take this little airplane made out of airliner technology and scale it up,” Mr Scholl said. “Time to bring it back in the mainstream way and we're not going to stop.”
