Boom Technology

Boom Technology, Inc. (trade name Boom Supersonic) is an American company developing the Overture, a supersonic airliner. It has also flight tested a one-third-scale demonstrator, the Boom XB-1 "Baby Boom", which broke the sound barrier for the first time on January 28, 2025, during a flight from the Mojave Air and Space Port.

History

The company was founded in Denver in 2014.
It participated in a Y Combinator startup incubation program in early 2016, and has been funded by Y Combinator, Sam Altman, Seraph Group, Eight Partners, and others.

In March 2017, $33 million was invested by several venture funds: Continuity Fund, RRE Ventures, Palm Drive Ventures, 8VC and Caffeinated Capital.
Boom secured $41 million of total financing by April 2017.
In December 2017, Japan Airlines invested $10 million, raising the company capital to $51 million: enough to build the XB-1 “Baby Boom” demonstrator and complete its testing, and to start early design work on the 55-seat airliner. In January 2019, Boom raised a further $100 million, bringing the total to $151 million, then planning the demonstrator first flight for later in 2019.

In January 2022, the company announced plans to build a manufacturing facility on a site at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina.

In November 2023, a representative of the NEOM Investment Fund announced their investment in Boom at an undisclosed amount. This follows an announcement by Boom of a "strategic investment" in the company from the fund.

If completed, the 64-80 seat aircraft, Overture, would be the first supersonic passenger jet since the British-French Concorde which was retired in 2003.

Projects

XB-1 "Baby Boom" demonstrator

The Boom XB-1 "Baby Boom" is a one-third-scale supersonic demonstrator, designed to maintain Mach 2.2, with over of range, and powered by three General Electric J85-15 engines with of thrust. It was rolled out in October 2020. It was expected to be flight tested in 2022, but delays pushed the first flight test to March 22, 2024. " We're going to take it down to the Mojave Desert for flight test probably around the middle of this year."
During the test flight, the aircraft reached speeds of up to and achieved an altitude of over .
In the test flight on 13 December 2024, the aircraft reached speeds of up to and achieved an altitude of over .

In the test flight on 28 January 2025, the aircraft broke the sound barrier, reaching speeds up to and achieved an altitude of over . The aircraft became the first privately-funded aircraft to break the sound barrier, reaching a speed of Mach 1.122. The company said XB-1 achieved supersonic flight without generating an audible sonic boom that reached the ground after refining its sonic boom models and improving algorithms for predicting Mach cutoff conditions.

Overture airliner

The Boom Overture is a proposed supersonic transport development to achieve an airspeed of , accommodate 65 to 80 passengers and a planned range of .
Boom said there could be a market for 1,000 supersonic airliners, and suggests airlines could charge business class fares. It had gathered 76 commitments by December 2017. It decided to use the delta wing configuration of Concorde and make use of composite materials. It is to be powered by three dry turbofan engines.

In January 2021, Boom announced plans to begin Overture test flights in 2027 and Boom CEO Blake Scholl "estimates that flights on Overture will be available in 2030."

United Airlines announced in June 2021 that it had signed a deal to purchase 15 Boom Overture aircraft, with an option to buy 35 more. American Airlines announced in August 2022 it had agreed to purchase 20 Boom Overture aircraft.

Symphony engine

In December 2022, Boom announced the Symphony, a new propulsion system to be designed for the Overture. Boom will work with three companies to develop Symphony: Florida Turbine Technologies for engine design, GE Additive for additive technology design consulting, and StandardAero for maintenance. In April 2025, Boom acquired a former Reaction Engines hypersonic test facility at Colorado Air and Space Port, to serve as the dedicated test site for the Symphony engine.

Mach 4 airliner concept

Boom Supersonic is participating in a NASA-led study to develop concept designs and technology roadmaps for a Mach 4 airliner. Boom is part of a team led by Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems, alongside Blue Ridge Research and Consulting and Rolls-Royce North American Technologies.

See also

References

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Aircraft manufacturers of the United States
American companies established in 2014
2016 establishments in Colorado
Aerospace companies of the United States
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2014