Supersonic Flights Might Soon Be a Reality Again Thanks to Aviation Startups

Boom Technology Inc. wants to cut travel time between continents.

supersonic
(Boom)

Aviation startups with backing from major industry players like Boeing and Lockheed Martin are hoping to once again make supersonic travel a very real possibility, and soon.

Colorado-based Boom Technology Inc. wants to cut travel time of transcontinental trips in half. According to The Wall Street Journal, round trips for business travelers who are really in a hurry between the west coast and Asia could be completed within the same day. It remains to be seen if people would pay a premium for that speed, however.

Concorde, a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner that operated from 1976 until 2003, was shut down because of safety issues highlighted after a July 2000 crash that killed 113 people — but also because the tickets cost $12,000, which would be about $16,642 today.

NASA hasn’t been deterred by the prices though. In early April, the space agency awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to build and test a supersonic airplane that reduces a sonic boom to a “gentle thump,” according to Town & Country. 

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