Perched On The Threshold Of Achieving Mach 1.0+

An exciting year for Boom Supersonic ended with its XB-1 demonstrator flying at Mach 0.95 and poised to pierce the sound barrier in early 2025, the Overture Superfactory has been built, and new partners have stepped up to build and test the Symphony engine.

The XB-1 flight test program occupied much of Boom’s news cycle in 2024 by successfully completing ten flights, beginning with its very first flight on March 2, safely reaching an altitude of 7,120 feet and speeds up to 238 knots.

Through a series of nine more flights throughout the year, the XB-1 made steady progress through higher altitudes and faster speeds. The tenth flight on December 19 saw XB-1 climb to 32,417 feet and pushing further into the transonic regime by reaching a top speed of Mach 0.95.

An important element was the Authorization to Exceed Mach 1 issued by the FAA on April 16. This was the first of its kind and permitted Boom to go supersonic in the Black Mountain Supersonic Corridor and a portion of the Bell X-1 Corridor above the Mojave Desert.

In June, construction of the Overture Superfactory in Greensboro, North Carolina, was completed. In addition, the Symphony engine, a purpose-built turbofan was built with Boom’s partner, Florida Turbine Technologies, and began a series of static rig tests.

The Overture’s next-gen flight deck was unveiled at the Farnborough Airshow in England in July. It is based on the Honeywell Anthem avionics suite and was developed in consultation with military and airline pilots, integrating state-of-the-art technologies with numerous safety-enhancing features. Also in July, ATI joined as a partner to develop high-temperature materials for the Symphony engine, and Universal Avionics came on to support Honeywell on Overture’s flight deck development.

With Flight Test 10 closing out the year at Mach 0.95, Boom expects to exceed Mach 1.0 within the next few flights in early 2025. As a final note to 2024, Boom secured an additional $100 million in new financing from a number of entrepreneurs and investors throughout the year. The funds will help support the quest for Mach 1 as well as continued development of the Overture supersonic airliner.

FMI:  boomsupersonic.com/