A supersonic aircraft is being built by Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic, who has collaborated with startup Boom Technology. It is claimed that the craft would fly faster than Concorde, a British-French turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet airliner that was operated until 2003.
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Boom Technology claims that it will possess a pace swifter than the speed of sound. The innovation and its development had, however, come to a standstill due to technical challenges and regulations.
Boom Technology aims at altering it by creating a passenger jet which travels at a supersonic velocity of Mach 2.2, which is equal to twice the speed of sound, 2,335 km/h (1,451 mph). Concorde used to fly at a speed of 2,180 km/h (1,350 mph), space.com revealed.
Blake Scholl, the CEO and founder of Boom Technology, has said that he aims at setting a new speed record for civil aircraft. According to a statement made by the company, the distance between New York City and London could be covered over a time span of three hours and 15 minutes at the pace of Mach 2.2.
The supersonic aircraft would also cover the distance between Sydney and Los Angeles in 6 hours and 45 minutes and San Francisco and Tokyo in 5.5 hours, Space.com revealed.
"Building a supersonic airplane is not easy, but it is important," Scholl wrote describing the startup's motivations, Live Science reported.
"While we love the hard engineering and technical challenges, what really drives us is the enormous human benefit of faster travel," the report added.
It was in late 1950s and early 1960s, when the last significant improvement in the speed of commercial air travel took place. According to Scholl, the supersonic jet would also make the farthest regions more reachable.
"Imagine travelling across the Atlantic [Ocean], getting business done [in Europe] and being home to tuck your children into bed," Scholl wrote, "or saving two whole days of a typical round-trip itinerary to Asia. ... When time is no longer a limit, where will you vacation? Where will you do business?" a Live Science report quoted.
An amount of $33 million has been raised by Boom Technology for financing the development of the company's first-ever supersonic passenger jet. Initially, a model -- 'Baby Boom' -- a prototype of the eventual full-size aircraft will be created by the firm.
In a conference earlier this week, Scholl had announced that Baby Boom's first test flight is scheduled to take place in 2018.
It will be in 2020 when tests for the full-size Boom would be carried out, in which 55 passengers will be carried in an all-business class configuration and in 2023, it would receive its certification from the Federal Aviation Administration.
