Boom Supersonic CEO says they’ve cracked supersonic flight with ‘no audible sonic boom’
- Introducing ‘Boomless Cruise’
- Boom Supersonic claims it has ‘cracked’ supersonic flight
- It has ‘no audible sonic boom’
Published on Feb 10, 2025 at 9:19 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Feb 11, 2025 at 6:27 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
The CEO of Boom Supersonic has an announcement to shout from the rooftops: the company has ‘cracked’ supersonic flight with ‘no audible sonic boom’.
The journeys will be up to 50 percent faster.
It was quietly demonstrated on XB-1’s first supersonic flight three times (pun intended).
Its name? ‘Boomless Cruise’.
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Groundbreaking supersonic flight from boom Supersonic
The announcement was made by CEO, Blake Scholl, who explained how it works.
“It’s actually well-known physics called Mach cutoff,” he said.
These physics were just theories before XB-1 proved it with ‘airliner-ready technology’.
Boom! We cracked it! Today we are introducing Boomless Cruise—supersonic flights up to 50% faster with no audible sonic boom.
— Blake Scholl 🛫 (@bscholl) February 10, 2025
We quietly (har har) demo'd this on XB-1's first supersonic flight—three times actually. 🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/oe0VHJqNit
“When an aircraft breaks the sound barrier at a sufficiently high altitude, the boom refracts in the atmosphere and curls upward without reaching the ground.
“It makes a U-turn before anyone can hear it.”
The upward trajectory of the boom is all down to cold temperatures at altitude.
The sonic boom never reaches the ground
This atmospheric U-turn requires tech that wasn’t available in the era of supersonic Concorde.
It requires engines powerful enough to break the sound barrier at such a high altitude that the boom can make a U-turn.
Tech now allows us to predict boom propagation precisely.
Boomless Cruise relies on the Symphony engines of the Overture airliner and its ‘boomless’ mode that’s designed ‘with enhanced transonic performance’
The mode automatically selects the fastest quiet speed as it advises pilots on the fastest, most efficient altitude based on weather forecasts.
It will be able to hit a top speed of Mach 1.3 – but will usually sit between Mach 1.1 and Mach 1.2.
It’s not the same tech used by NASA and its ‘quiet’ X-59 – as the sonic boom will be completely absent.
As well as the 600+ routes that will benefit from Overture’s existing Mach 0.94/Mach 1.7 hybrid speed, Boomless Cruise is set to add many other practical routes.
These will fly from coast to coast in the US up to 90 minutes faster when permitted by American regulators.
London-based Amelia cut her journalistic teeth covering all things lifestyle, wellness and luxury in the UK capital. Fast-forward a decade and the experienced content creator and editor has put pen to paper for glossy magazines, busy newsrooms and coveted brands. When her OOO is on you can find her spending quality time with her young family, in the gym or exploring the city she loves.
