Supersonic Hopeful Gets More Funding

Colorado-based Boom Supersonic, which hopes to fly a scale version of its supersonic commercial transport later this year, has closed a $100 million investment round, bringing its total funding to more than $141 million. This latest round, which includes $56 million in new investment, as well as its previously announced strategic investments, will allow the company to continue development of its planned Mach 2.2 airliner.

The company, which is currently assembling its one-third-scale XB-1, claims it will be the fastest civil aircraft ever built and will demonstrate in flight the key technologies for mainstream supersonic flight, including efficient aerodynamics, advanced composite materials, and an efficient propulsion system. Boom, which recently relocated its operations to Denver Centennial Airport, currently employs more than 100 workers and engineers and believes it will double that number by year-end. Selection of a production site for the full-scale aircraft—which the airframer hopes will enter service in the middle of the next decade—is ongoing.

“This new funding allows us to advance work on Overture, the world’s first economically viable supersonic airliner,” noted company founder and CEO Blake Scholl, adding the company’s goal is to make high-speed flight affordable to all. “Overture fares will be similar to today’s business class, widening horizons for tens of millions of travelers.”