The American company Boom Supersonic took a big step forward this summer by unveiling the final design of its supersonic Overture aircraft at the Farnborough International Airshow in Great Britain on July 19. The aircraft, which is of interest to several airlines, could take off commercially in 2030.
Will Concorde have a successor? The question is still being asked since Air France and British Airways stopped operating the legendary Franco-British supersonic aircraft in 2003. Concorde had been in the hot seat since the crash in Gonesse on July 25, 2000, when the plane crashed into a hotel, killing 113 people (100 passengers, nine crew members and four people on the ground). But the aura of the supersonic plane remained alive to such an extent that many projects to imagine a new Concorde, more modern and safer were born. All of them have collided with the wall of financial and economic realities, each one as complex as the other. But some still believe in the relevance of having a supersonic airplane, in contrast to the era that castigates air travel, especially jets, as too expensive and too polluting.
Among those who still believe in a new Concorde is Blake Scholl, the founding CEO of Boom Supersonic. Neither the Covid-19 pandemic nor the setbacks of competing projects, including the favorite Aerion, have dampened the enthusiasm of this young CEO who came up through Amazon and founded his aeronautics startup in Denver, Colorado, in 2014. It was his contacts in the digital world and in Silicon Valley that brought Blake Scholl his first investments. Boom Supersonic raises in 2019 some 87 million euros and receives the support of several investment funds and American technology groups such as Google, Airbnb and or Dropbox. Boom is also partnering with Prometheus, a biofuel specialist, and is developing processes to limit consumption, notably by abandoning afterburning.
Europe-USA in 3h30
In October 2020, Boom presented its first prototype, the XB-1, capable of flying at Mach 2.2, twice the speed of sound, which would allow it to fly from the Old Continent to New York in three and a half hours, carrying 55 people in its futuristic cabin. Boom dreams of commercial flights around 2030 and is already attracting companies such as Virgin Atlantic and Japan Airlines, which have pre-ordered 10 and 20 examples of the supersonic aircraft respectively. In June 2021, the company struck a blow: a purchase commitment from the American company United for 15 aircraft, plus 35 as options.
On July 19, at the Farnborough Airshow, Boom reached an important milestone by unveiling the final design of the aircraft, renamed Overture, after 51 versions and 26 million hours of software simulation and five wind tunnel tests! Sleek and slender with its four engines and "gullwing" wings, the aircraft will be capable of carrying 65 to 80 passengers at the supersonic speed of Mach 1.7, or 2,100 km/h.
"It's as if Concorde and the 747 had a baby," laughs Blake Scholl, who claims a filiation with Concorde. "707... 747... Concorde... Overture. The next iconic plane," the CEO reacts to a post on United's Twitter account that shows a view of an Overture in the company's colors. Boom supersonic hopes to make the first Overture flight by 2026 and receive certification to fly commercially by 2029.
At Farnborough, Boom Supersonic also unveiled the names of new partners that will accompany it: Eaton for fuel systems, Collins Aerospace for major aircraft systems and Safran Landing Systems for braking and landing gear. "This is a unique opportunity to contribute our expertise to a product that we believe has the potential to completely transform passenger air travel," said Cédric Goubet, CEO of Safran Landing Systems.
A military version
Boom also announced another very important partnership with Northrop Grumman Corporation. The two companies "will work together to provide the U.S. government and its allies with a supersonic special mission aircraft." For alongside the civilian supersonic aircraft a military Overture may well emerge. "Time is a strategic advantage in high consequence scenarios. With special capabilities, the aircraft could be used to deliver medical supplies, perform emergency medical evacuations or monitor much larger areas than a conventional aircraft," Boom Supersonic explained.
Multiple projects since the end of Concorde
Giving a successor to Concorde: this objective has been pursued by many companies, many of which have thrown in the towel both in view of the technical difficulties and the uncertain prospects of obtaining commercial outlets for a supersonic aircraft that is necessarily out of the ordinary. Among the many projects in the running, Aerion's seemed very promising. The American company Aerion Corporation had been working for several years on a supersonic business jet model, the AS2. Silent, capable of traveling twice as fast as current commercial aircraft (1.4 Mach, or 1,715 km/h), this aircraft was to undergo flight tests by 2024 for marketing in 2026. Aerion had attracted Lockheed Martin, GE Aviation and especially the giant Boeing. But Aerion did not survive the pandemic and the company was liquidated in 2021.
Spike Aerospace, based in Boston, is still working on a supersonic business jet called S-512. California-based Exosonic is designing an unmanned supersonic aircraft that it hopes will lead to a silent supersonic airliner. But of all of them, Boom is the most advanced.
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