In the near future, it might be faster to fly from New York to London than it would be to drive from the Big Apple to Washington D.C.
Colorado-based startup Boom Supersonic is one step closer to making such travel a reality after securing $33 million in investments to construct and fly its first supersonic jet, the XB-1 demonstration and testing craft, according to TechCrunch. The plane will be a prototype version that’s one-third of the size of the supersonic airliner it plans to build and sell to air fleet customers, the report adds.
The company hopes the Boom jet will take three hours and 15 minutes to fly from New York to London for a price of $2,500 per passenger in either direction, based on its initial prototype. Transatlantic flights currently take more than twice that time.
“We’re trying to build a supersonic airliner that’s economically viable, the way that the Concorde was not,” Boom engineer Kenrick Waithe told CNN.
With the new funding, Boom will be able to put that concept — and the technology needed to power it — to the test.
“This funds our first airplane, all the way through flight tests,” Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl told TechCrunch. “Now we have all the pieces we need – technology, suppliers and capital – to go out and make some history and set some speed records.”
Scholl said that Boom’s first flight is about a year away. He added that Virgin Galactic is one of the first air fleet customers to secure an order for later this year.