Today a civil test airliner, Boom Technology’s XB-1, broke the sound barrier for the first time in two decades.
Boom's Supersonic XB-1 jet became the “world’s first independently developed supersonic jet” to break the sound barrier Tuesday.
Tuesday morning at Mojave Air & Space Port in California, almost 80 years after U.S. Air Force ace Chuck Yeager first eclipsed the sound barrier in a Bell X-1, an independently built jet reached supersonic speeds for the first time.
XB-1’s supersonic flight took place in the same historic airspace where Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier for the first time in 1947, according to Boom Supersonic.
If successful, it could pave the way for the first US-built commercial supersonic jet to enter the market, reigniting the dream of high-speed passenger travel that was first brought to life by the iconic Concorde, a joint UK-French enterprise in the 1970s.
The Colorado-based company is aiming to build a Concorde-like supersonic aircraft—but has hurdles to clear before realizing that goal.
Boom Supersonic's XB-1 made history on Tuesday by becoming the first civil aircraft to break the sound barrier. Before Tuesday, no civil private manufacturer had passed the sound barrier with an aircraft it had developed.
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With the technical and psychological barrier crossed, Boom turns to getting its actual production plane ready to build in the Triad.