Watch Boom fly its XB-1 aircraft past the speed of sound for the first time

Boom Supersonic is working on bringing supersonic commercial air travel back. To do this, they have been working on their subscale XB-1 aircraft to test the systems needed to achieve supersonic flight. Today, the company is attempting its first supersonic flight.

This flight, if successful, will become the first civil supersonic flight over the continental United States. Boom has gained a special waiver from the FAA to perform this test, as the administration has banned supersonic flight since the 1970s.

Supersonic flight has seemingly become the latest hot topic in aviation as civil aviation companies like Boom now have the resources to build these fast-moving aircraft. NASA is also researching how to make sonic booms, the result of flying faster than sound, quieter. Their research will be able to be passed down to companies like Boom as they build out their vehicles.

While the Boom XB-1 is a single-seater jet aircraft, Boom’s future goal is to build a larger airliner that could carry passengers on flights across the globe. The last supersonic civil airliner, the Concorde, was retired in 2003 after the cost of operating them and the ban on overland flight made it impractical to continue operating.

Boom’s hope is that modern technologies will solve the cost issues.