energia: Supersonic transport

Evidence: 57 • authority: 72

The Tupolev Tu-144 (Russian: Tyполев Ту-144; NATO reporting name: Charger) is a Soviet supersonic passenger airliner designed by Tupolev that operated commercially from 1975 to 1983, including 1977–1978 passenger service. The Tu-144 was the world's first commercial supersonic transport aircraft with its prototype's maiden flight from Zhukovsky Airport on 31 December 1968, two months before the British-French Concorde. The Tu-144 was a product of the Tupolev Design Bureau, an OKB headed by aeronautics pioneer Aleksey Tupolev, and 16 aircraft were manufactured by the Voronezh Aircraft Production Association in Voronezh. The Tu-144 conducted 102 commercial flights, of which only 55 carried pas…

Evidence: 51 • authority: 72

A supersonic aircraft is an aircraft capable of supersonic flight, that is, flying faster than the speed of sound (Mach 1). Supersonic aircraft were developed in the second half of the twentieth century. Supersonic aircraft have been used for research and military purposes; however, to date, only two supersonic aircraft, the Tupolev Tu-144 (first flown on December 31, 1968) and the Concorde (first flown on March 2, 1969), have ever entered civilian service, both commercially used as supersonic passenger airliners. Fighter jets are the most common example of supersonic aircraft. The aerodynamics of supersonic flight is called compressible flow because of the compression associated with the s…

Evidence: 25 • authority: 72

The Tupolev Tu-244 was a proposed supersonic transport (SST) aircraft, developed from the Tu-144. It implemented novel features such as cryogenic fuel to enable flight distances of up to 10,000 km (6,200 mi) and would have carried up to 300 passengers. The project was cancelled in 1993.

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Boom XB-1 "Baby Boom" is a retired trijet supersonic demonstrator designed by Boom Technology as part of the development of the Boom Overture supersonic transport airliner. Powered by three General Electric J85 engines, it was initially designed to maintain a speed of Mach 2.2, with over 1,000 nautical miles (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) of range; but the demonstrator was tested to only Mach 1.1 and no long–range flights were made. The XB-1 began taxi tests in December 2022, and conducted its maiden flight on March 22, 2024. The aircraft performed its first supersonic flight test on January 28, 2025, being the first privately developed jet aircraft to do so. It made a second supersonic flight on…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Boom Overture is a supersonic airliner under development by Boom Technology. The aircraft is designed to cruise at a maximum speed of Mach 1.7 or 975 knots (1,806 km/h; 1,122 mph), and is expected to reach supersonic speeds without causing a sonic boom at ground level by taking advantage of a physics phenomenon known as mach cutoff. It is expected to carry 60 to 80 passengers, depending on configuration, with a range of 4,250 nautical miles [nmi] (7,870 km; 4,890 mi). Boom aims to introduce the Overture in 2029. The company projects a market for over 1,000 supersonic aircraft serving more than 600 viable routes, with fares comparable to business class. Featuring a delta wing design similar…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Jet Age is a period in the history of aviation defined by the advent of aircraft powered by jet turbine engines and the social and cultural changes fostered by commercial jet travel. Jet airliners were able to fly higher, faster, and farther than older piston‑powered propliners, making transcontinental and intercontinental travel considerably faster and easier. Aircraft leaving North America and crossing the Atlantic Ocean (and later, the Pacific Ocean) could now fly to their destinations non-stop, making much of the world accessible within a single day's travel for the first time. Large jetliners could carry more passengers than piston-powered airliners, which caused air fares to decli…

Evidence: — • authority: 88

Proving the Concorde. BY the time it has obtained its Certificate of Airworthiness and has entered airline service in the early seventies, the Concorde supersonic airliner will have been proved in the most intensive and comprehensive testing programme ever organised in support of a civil aircraft project. Although at first sight this may seem a sweeping claim, such a programme is an obvious prerequisite to the certification of an airliner that will for much of its working life operate in an entirely new environment and cruise at a speed more than twice that achieved by the fastest subsonic types.

Evidence: — • authority: 72

A supersonic transport (SST) or a supersonic airliner is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound in terms of air speed. To date, the only SSTs to see regular service have been Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144, although the Boom Technology Overture SST may succeed in starting service around 2029, which would make it the third operational SST. The last passenger flight of the Tu-144 was in June 1978 and it was last flown in 1999 by NASA. Concorde's last commercial flight was in October 2003, with a November 26, 2003, ferry flight being its last flight. Following the termination of flying by Concorde, there have been no SSTs in c…