Supersonic prototype jet breaks sound barrier on US test flight Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 hit Mach 1.1 over Mojave desert, bringing company closer to planned supersonic airliner.
Boom Supersonic, a startup that seeks to build the world’s fastest airliner, flew a test flight of its fighter jet-sized XB-1 demonstrator over the Mojave desert in California on Tuesday.
Chuck Yeager became the first human to break the sound barrier in 1947, when he flew the Bell X-1 at Mach 1, also over the Mojave desert.
A US-made prototype jet has broken the sound barrier, in the first commercial venture to achieve supersonic speeds since Concorde.
While its aircraft are still in the test phase, the company has 130 preorders from American Airlines, United Airlines and Japan Airlines.
