page_title: Supersonic transport
section_title: Under development
hierarchical_section_title: Supersonic transport / Under development
caption_attribution_description: English: The "Icon-II" future aircraft design concept for supersonic flight over land comes from the team led by The Boeing Company. A design that achieves fuel burn reduction and airport noise goals, it also achieves large reductions in sonic boom noise levels that will meet the target level required to make supersonic flight over land possible. This concept is one of two designs presented in April 2010 to the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate for its NASA Research Announcement-funded studies into advanced supersonic cruise aircraft that could enter service in the 2030-2035 timeframe.
context_page_description: A supersonic transport is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. To date, the only SSTs to see regular service have been Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144. The last passenger flight of the Tu-144 was in June 1978 and it was last flown in 1999 by NASA. Concorde's last commercial flight was in October 2003, with a November 26, 2003 ferry flight being its last airborne operation. Following the permanent cessation of flying by Concorde, there are no remaining SSTs in commercial service. Several companies have each proposed a supersonic business jet, which may bring supersonic transport back again.
  Supersonic airliners have been the objects of numerous recent and ongoing design studies. Drawbacks and design challenges are excessive noise generation, high development costs, expensive construction materials, high fuel consumption, extremely high emissions, and an increased cost per seat over subsonic airliners. Despite these challenges, Concorde was claimed to operate profitably, although that was due to write off of all development and construction costs plus the willingness of passengers to pay high fares.
context_section_description: The desire for a second-generation supersonic aircraft has remained within some elements of the aviation industry, and several concepts have emerged since the retirement of Concorde.
  In May 2008, it was reported that Aerion Corporation had $3 billion of pre-order sales on its Aerion SBJ supersonic business jet. In late 2010, the project continued with a testbed flight of a section of the wing.
  In March 2016, Boom Technology revealed they are in the development phases of building a 40-passenger supersonic jet capable of flying Mach 2.2, claiming their design simulation shows they will be quieter and 30% more efficient than the Concorde and be able to fly Los Angeles to Sydney in 6 hours.
  For its economic viability, NASA research since 2006 focuses on reducing the sonic boom to allow supersonic flight over land.
  NASA should fly a low-boom demonstrator in 2019, reduced from double bangs to soft thumps by airframe shaping, to inquire community response, in support of a prospective FAA and ICAO ban lift in the early 2020s.
  The Quiet Supersonic Technology X-plane will mimic the shockwave signature of a Mach 1.6–1.8, 80-100-seat airliner for 75 PNLdB compared with 105 PNLdB for Concorde.
  The market for supersonic airliners costing $200 million could be 1,300 over a 10-year period, worth $260 billion. Development and certification is probably a $4 billion operation.
  The TsAGI exhibited at the 2017 MAKS Air Show in Moscow a scale model of its Supersonic Business Jet / Commercial Jet which should produce a low sonic boom permitting supersonic flight over land, optimised for 2,100 km/h (1,300 mph) cruise and 7,400–8,600 km (4,600–5,300 mi) range.
  The scientific research aims to optimise for both Mach 0.8–0.9 transonic and Mach 1.5–2.0 supersonic speeds, a similar design is tested in a wind tunnel while the engines are conceptualised at the Central Institute for Aviation Motors and designs are studied by Aviadvigatel and NPO Saturn.
  At the October 2017 NBAA convention in Las Vegas, with NASA supporting only research, inexperienced companies are facing engineering challenges to propose aircraft with no engine available, variable top speeds and operating models:
  the Aerion AS2 is a 12-seat trijet, with a range of 4,750 nmi (8,800 km; 5,470 mi) at Mach 1.4 over water or 5,300 nmi (9,800 km; 6,100 mi) at Mach 0.95 over land, although "boomless" Mach 1.1 flight is possible. Backed by Airbus and with 20 launch orders from Flexjet, First deliveries were pushed back from 2023 by two years when GE Aviation was selected in May 2017 for a joint engine study;
  the Boom XB-1 Baby Boom third-scale testbed should fly in 2018 as the powerplant is selected for a 45/55-seat trijet airliner reaching Mach 2.2 over water for 9,000 nmi (17,000 km; 10,000 mi) with one stop for a business-class fare. Aiming for 2023 deliveries, it received 10 commitments from Virgin and 15 from an undisclosed European airline in 2016, totalling 76 from five airlines by June 2017;
  The Spike S-512 is a self-funded twinjet design aiming to cruise at Mach 1.6 over water for 6,200 nmi (11,500 km; 7,100 mi) with 22 passengers in a windowless cabin, with unspecified 20,000 lbf (89 kN) engines. A SX-1.2-scale model should have made its maiden flight in September 2017 before a manned testbed in 2019 and the prototype in 2021, with market availability for 2023.
  Working since 2003 and having reduced its target from Mach 1.6 to 1.4, Aerion seems more realistic for Leeham analyst Bjorn Fehrm and wants to enter service in 2025, while Boom and Spike are more ambitious for introduction two years before – but those timelines seems difficult without engine selection – and speed with at least Mach 2 needed for airlines to cut one day off transatlantic and two days off transpacific trips.
  Rules for supersonic flight-testing authorization in the U.S and noise certification will be proposed by the FAA by early 2019.
  Of the four billion air passengers in 2017, over 650 million flew long-haul between 2,000 and 7,000 miles (3,200 and 11,300 km), including 72 million in Business- and first-class, re
caption: Boeing concept presented to NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate in April 2010
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