This Week’s Science News from SWTG

Supersonic Planes & AI Advances

No Audible Boom from First Test Flight of Supersonic Passenger Plane

Image: Boom Supersonic

When I first talked about the return of supersonic passenger flights some years ago, few wanted to believe it. Too expensive, too loud, look at what happened to the Concorde, and in any case, think about the carbon footprint, it won’t happen. But a lot of things have changed in the past years… or have they?

Elon Musk thinks that one day we’ll travel by rocket, shot around the globe in his starship that could bring you from London to New York in 30 minutes. And you know what? I can actually believe that one day this might indeed work. But for the time being, rockets don’t land at airports, and most of us can’t even afford extra legroom in economy, so it’ll be some time until we hop on Elon’s rockets.

Supersonic airplanes, those that fly faster than the speed of sound, have the advantage that they integrate more easily into passenger travel. The major problem is that the faster you fly, the more air resistance you have to overcome, and the more fuel you need. This makes supersonic flight expensive. Another issue is the supersonic boom, a shockwave that trails behind them as they fly. It’s an issue because you know most people don’t like it if the 5:00 a.m. flight blasts the morning coffee into their face.

But fuel efficiency has much improved in the past 50 years, and NASA, among others, has developed a smart wing design that can reduce the supersonic boom. And so, in the past decade we have seen several startups trying to bring supersonic passenger flights back.

It’s been tough going. The American startup Aerion Supersonic shut down in 2021 after they failed to secure the capital needed to begin production of their aeroplane. Another startup, Exosonic, shut down last year for the same reason. There are evidently too few investors willing to put money into the business because it’s questionable whether it will ever be profitable.