An American startup wants to resuscitate the supersonic aircraft

An American startup plans to build a new supersonic aircraft

This is the Boom Supersonic project, an American startup founded by Blake Scholl, a former Amazon employee. A prototype will be built next year, 50 years after the flight of the Concorde, which joined the west of Europe to the east coast of the United States from 1976 to 2003, and which was the first and last plane commercial supersonic

Boom Supersonic is supported by big names in the aerospace industry. One thinks in particular to Richard Branson, of Virgin, who personally encouraged and financed the project, but also Japan Airlines, which invested 10 million dollars last December.

It is in front of an old one Concorde of British Airways restored as CEO of the startup said: " At Boom, we are inspired by what has been accomplished half a century ago. Our goal is to build a faster plane and make it accessible to all those who fly ". For the moment, Boom Supersonic is working on a miniature prototype, the Baby Boom, which should take off next year.

Blake Scholl hopes to see the first commercial flights begin for 2023. The performance of the aircraft are dreaming It will be possible to cross the Atlantic at a speed of 2470 km / h (Mach 2.2). 55 pbadengers will be able to take a seat on the plane, at an unbeatable price: all seats will be in business clbad, but the price will not exceed 2000 €.

Each pbadenger will be next to a large porthole, will have room to extend its legs and will have direct access to the central corridor. Destinations like Tokyo-San Francisco and Sydney-Los Angeles are also planned. The three-jet aircraft will carry its pbadengers to more than 18,000 meters above sea level, unlike traditional airliners, which rarely exceed 10,000 meters.

When reminded of the reasons for the failure of the Concorde, Blake Scholl explains that attractive prices will be enough to fly his planes to the four corners of the planet. However, the experts are more skeptical: " Business traffic would be, at first glance, the most profitable for supersonic journeys. But if ever there is a slowdown in the economy or something else that would reduce the business clbad travel market, there would be nothing left to do with these planes "says John Strickland, independent consultant on

These reserves, however, do not prevent Boeing's floor, for its part, on a hypersonic aircraft. While the Concorde could reach the speed of Mach 2.04, the car of the American manufacturer could reach Mach 5. What connect New York to London in 2 hours. It will be possible to make the round trip in the day, for a meeting for example. This plane is however not planned for 20 or 30 years.