By Brian Gordon for The Raleigh News & Observer
A jet-manufacturing startup aiming to revive supersonic passenger travel broke the sound barrier for the first time Tuesday morning at the Mojave Air & Space Port in Southern California. Boom Supersonic flew its XB-1 test aircraft at speeds up to Mach 1.11, going supersonic for a little under four minutes at an altitude of 35,000 feet. The XB-1 program, Boom has said, “provides the foundation for the design and development” for its future jet, which could eventually carry 64 to 80 passengers at Mach 1.7, or roughly twice the speed of today’s traditional commercial airliners.
While based in Colorado and testing in California, the startup has its future intertwined with North Carolina.
In January 2022, Boom entered an agreement with the state to build a $500 million “flagship” factory at Greensboro’s Piedmont Triad International Airport. The company plans to use its Greensboro campus to assembly, test, and deliver its prospective supersonic airliner, called Overture, which it hopes to have certified for commercial travel in 2029. North Carolina and Guilford County combined to offer Boom a $121.5 million performance- based incentive package. Under its state agreement, Boom has committed to employ up to 1,760 workers at the site. Boom said its test flight Tuesday was the first time an independently constructed civil aircraft has flown supersonic.
The preceding article originally appeared on January 28, 2025 at The Raleigh News & Observer’s website and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law.
