Branson's Virgin Has 10 Options On The Airplane

A new SST is under development in Colorado that Boom Aerospace says would carry 40 passengers at speeds of 1,260 knots ... about 86 knots faster than the Concorde. And Sir Richard Branson has already signed on for 10 options for the airplanes.

GeekWire reports that the team behind the Boom includes Amazon CEO and founder Blake Scholl, and Michael Reid, who previously worked on the Dreamliner with Boeing. The Spaceship Company is also involved. A subscale prototype is currently under construction at the company's hangar in Denver.

In a statement emailed to GeekWire, The Virgin Group confirmed that Branson is interested in the aircraft. "We can confirm that The Spaceship Company will provide engineering, design and manufacturing services, flight tests and operations and that we have an option on the first ten airframes. It is still early days and just the start of what you’ll hear about our shared ambitions and efforts,” Virgin said in the statement.

The U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail reports that Branson has options to buy 10 of the aircraft. A round trip between New York and London would take about three-and-a-half hours and cost about $5,000, about the same as business class costs now, according to the report.

The Boom SST would be constructed of composite carbon fiber. The company says in simulations, the airplane is quieter and 30 percent more efficient than Concorde using standard jet engines. It would cruise at 60,000 feet with two rows of standard, first class single seats.

Boom hopes to have the prototype flying late next year. If all goes according to plan, initial flight tests would be conducted at Centennial Airport in Denver, with supersonic flight testing occurring near Edwards Air Force Base.

Boom said in a statement to The Daily Mail that the company was founded on a philosophy that "we need to overcome the challenges to supersonic passenger flight, not surrender to them."

(Images from Boom Aerospace press kit)

FMI: http://boom.aero