New US Jet Breaks Sound Barrier in First Flight Test

01An experimental aircraft developed by a private American company broke the sound barrier during a recent flight test.

02California-based Boom Supersonic built the plane, named XB-1.

03The company said the aircraft reached a speed of Mach 1.05 during a test on January 28.

04The test flight operated from the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California.

05Any speed greater than Mach 1.0 breaks the sound barrier and is considered supersonic.

06The American Space Agency, NASA, explains that at sea level, the speed of sound is estimated to be about 1,236 kilometers per hour.

07In a statement, Boom Supersonic said the XB-1 demonstrator aircraft climbed to more than 35,000 feet before reaching Mach 1.0.

08It recorded the speed within 11 minutes of taking off.

09The company also released a video feed of the supersonic test flight.

10The company said in a press release, Historically, supersonic aircraft have been the work of nation-states, developed by militaries and governments.

11But the latest flight made the XB-1 the world's first independently developed supersonic jet to break the sound barrier, Boom Supersonic said.

12The company's founder and chief executive officer, Blake Scholl, said, XB-1's supersonic flight demonstrates that the technology for passenger supersonic flight has arrived.

13Boom Supersonic launched in 2014 with the goal of making high-speed travel mainstream and enabling a new world of human connection.

14With that in mind, the company has been working to develop a supersonic passenger airliner called Overture.

15The aircraft would carry up to 80 passengers.

16Boom Supersonic is one of several American companies seeking to develop supersonic flight vehicles.

17NASA is also working on a supersonic aircraft in partnership with a U.S.

18contractor.

19The last time supersonic travel was available to passengers was 2003.

20That is the year the Concorde, the world's first supersonic passenger jet aircraft, stopped service.

21Britain and France jointly operated the Concorde.

22But the joint operation between British Airways and Air France suffered several business difficulties that led to the decision to stop flying the supersonic planes.

23Some of the difficulties were linked to publicity about a deadly Concorde crash in 2000.

24That incident involved an Air France airliner crashing shortly after taking off from Paris.

25The crash claimed a total of 113 lives.

26Boom Supersonic says its planned Overture airliner will be designed to transport passengers from the U.S.

27East Coast across the Atlantic to Europe in about three and a half hours.

28The flight with normal passenger jets takes about eight hours.

29Amy Marino Spowart is the president and chief executive officer at the National Aeronautic Association.

30She told the Associated Press, The latest supersonic test flight suggests the future of aviation is here and now.

31Spowart added, Not only is there hope for faster and better commercial flight, but Boom proves that it can be done sustainably.

32Boom Supersonic has said its planned supersonic airliner will be designed to run on up to 100% sustainable aircraft fuel.

33Such sustainable fuels are made from non-petroleum products, such as food waste or other biomass materials.

34Both XB-1 and Overture are made mostly from a carbon-based composite material to provide a strong, lightweight structure, the company said.

35NASA's supersonic aircraft, built together with Lockheed Martin, is called X-59.

36It is also an experimental plane that is seeking to test the level of noise produced by supersonic travel.

37Currently, supersonic flights are banned over land because of the loud noise they produce.

38NASA has explained it plans to carry out testing this year of the X-59 aircraft, which has been designed and engineered to operate at lower noise levels than other supersonic aircraft.

39The tests to take place at supersonic test centers in California are designed to prove the quiet supersonic technology works as designed.

40NASA said that after that testing is done, the agency plans to begin community reaction studies beginning in 2026.

41These will involve flying the X-59 over several cities and then asking people on the ground to share their thoughts on the level of noise they heard.

42NASA has said the X-59, which measures 30 meters long and 9 meters wide, is expected to fly at 1.4 times the speed of sound.

43That is about 1,500 kilometers per hour.

44I'm Brian Lynn.