[00:00.00]An experimental aircraft developed by a private American company broke the sound barrier during a recent flight test.
[00:12.33]California-based company Boom Supersonic built the plane, named XB-1.
[00:20.99]The company said the aircraft reached a speed of Mach 1.05 during a test on January 28.
[00:32.49]The test flight operated from the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California.
[00:40.60]Any speed greater than Mach 1.0 breaks the sound barrier and is considered supersonic.
[00:51.70]The American space agency NASA explains that at sea level, the speed of sound is estimated to be about 1,236 kilometers per hour.
[01:09.92]In a statement, Boom Supersonic said the XB-1 demonstrator aircraft climbed to more than 35,000 feet before reaching Mach 1.0.
[01:24.97]It recorded the speed within 11 minutes of taking off. The company also released a video feed of the supersonic test flight.
[01:38.45]The company said in a press release, "Historically, supersonic aircraft have been the work of nation states, developed by militaries and governments."
[01:52.79]But the latest flight made the XB-1 "the world's first independently developed supersonic jet" to break the sound barrier, Boom Supersonic said.
[02:07.84]The 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."
[02:27.34]Boom Supersonic launched in 2014 "with the goal of making high-speed travel mainstream and enabling a new world of human connection."
[02:41.85]With that in mind, the company has been working to develop a supersonic passenger airliner called Overture. The aircraft would carry up to 80 passengers.
[02:57.62]Boom Supersonic is one of several American companies seeking to develop supersonic flight vehicles.
[03:07.49]NASA is also working on a supersonic aircraft in partnership with a U.S. contractor.
[03:16.15]The last time supersonic travel was available to passengers was 2003.
[03:24.48]That is the year the Concorde - the world's first supersonic passenger jet aircraft - stopped service.
[03:34.35]Britain and France jointly operated the Concorde.
[03:40.45]But the joint operation between British Airways and Air France suffered several business difficulties that led to the decision to stop flying the supersonic planes.
[03:55.34]Some of the difficulties were linked to publicity about a deadly Concorde crash in 2000.
[04:04.61]That incident involved an Air France airliner crashing shortly after taking off from Paris.
[04:12.64]The crash claimed a total of 113 lives.
[04:18.10]Boom Supersonic says its planned Overture airliner will be designed to transport passengers from the U.S. East Coast across the Atlantic to Europe in about 3-and-a-half hours.
[04:35.48]The flight with normal passenger jets takes about eight hours.
[04:41.58]Amy Marino Spowart is the president and chief executive officer at the National Aeronautic Association.
[04:52.45]She told The Associated Press the latest supersonic test flight suggests "the future of aviation is here and now."
[05:04.75]Spowart added, "Not only is there hope for faster and better commercial flight, but Boom proves that it can be done sustainably."
[05:17.44]Boom Supersonic has said its planned supersonic airliner will be designed to run on up to 100 percent sustainable aircraft fuel.
[05:31.75]Such sustainable fuels are made from non-petroleum products, such as food waste or other biomass materials.
[05:42.04]Both XB-1 and Overture are made mostly from a carbon-based composite material to provide "a strong, lightweight structure," the company said.
[05:56.98]NASA's supersonic aircraft - built together with Lockheed Martin - is called X-59.
[06:06.26]It is also an experimental plane that is seeking to test the level of noise produced by supersonic travel.
[06:16.48]Currently, supersonic flights are banned over land because of the loud noise they produce.
[06:25.09]NASA 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.
[06:44.32]The tests - to take place at supersonic test centers in California - are designed "to prove the quiet supersonic technology works as designed."
[06:59.32]NASA said that after that testing is done, the agency plans to begin community reaction studies, beginning in 2026.
[07:10.24]These 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.
[07:23.23]NASA has said the X-59 - which measures 30 meters long and nine meters wide - is expected to fly at 1.4 times the speed of sound.
[07:38.46]That is about 1,500 kilometers per hour.
[07:45.53]I'm Bryan Lynn.
Words in This Story
mainstream - adj. the beliefs or way of living that are accepted by most people
enable - v. to make something possible
sustainable - adj. method of energy production that cause little or no damage to the environment
composite - adj. made up of several different materials or parts
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