Boom goes supersonic with XB-1 jet

The XB-1 reached Mach 1.1 on January 28 above the Mojave Desert in California, passing the sound barrier on three separate occasions during the flight. The demonstrator has been undergoing a test programme since March 2024, paving the way for Boom’s Overture aircraft, which is targeting speeds up to Mach 1.7 carrying 64-80 passengers.  

“XB-1’s supersonic flight demonstrates that the technology for passenger supersonic flight has arrived,” said Boom Supersonic founder and CEO Blake Scholl.

XB-1 and Overture have both been designed using carbon fibre composites and ‘digitally-optimised aerodynamics’ that rely heavily on computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Similar to Concorde, both aircraft feature long noses and high angles of attack which obscures pilot views of the runway during take-off and landing. Rather than Concorde’s moveable nose cone, Boom has developed an augmented reality vision system to provide runway visibility.  

Overture already has 130 orders and pre-orders from American Airlines, United Airlines and Japan Airlines. In 2024, Boom completed construction on its ‘Overture Superfactory’ in North Carolina which it said will be capable of delivering 66 Overture aircraft per year. It's also claimed that Overture and its bespoke propulsion system, Symphony, will be capable of running on 100 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)