{"id":30664,"date":"2025-01-16T09:10:05","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T09:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/the-state-of-supersonic-flight-2022\/"},"modified":"2025-01-16T09:10:05","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T09:10:05","slug":"the-state-of-supersonic-flight-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=30664","title":{"rendered":"The State of Supersonic Flight – 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe State of Supersonic Flight \u2013 2022<\/span><\/p>\n
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It has been a fascinating year for civilian supersonic flight but at the end of 2022, going \u201cfaster than speed of sound\u201d seems further away than some expected we would be at this stage. Announced delivery dates continue to slip from 2008 (Aerion I) to now promised deliveries by the end of the decade. Lots of companies, Fortune 500s (Boeing, Gulfstream, Dassault) and startups (SAI, Aerion, Spike, Boom, Exosonic and others) have pursued supersonic flight with tremendous passion, hope and promise. Yet, 20 years after the Concorde was retired, supersonic flight still seems quite distant.<\/p>\n

Environmentalists and advocates for economic equality are probably very happy to see the set back to a \u201ctoy for the rich\u201d. These \u201ctoys\u201d will likely burn more fuel and, if not designed correctly, will create more emissions than sub-sonic aircraft, burn more fuel and create more noise (sonic boom and engine noise around airport communities) than subsonic jets.\u00a0 Even those aircraft are facing growing protests by folks who think we should walk and bike everywhere. True, we would all be healthier if we walked more.<\/p>\n

Last year, in May of 2021, Aerion Supersonic shut down after 20 years of development on their vision for supersonic flight. They had substantial financial backing, a fantastic executive team, excellent enginners and lots of partnerships, but even that was not enough to bring the aircraft to market. Aerion dashed the hopes of many when they folded.<\/p>\n

Current \u201cState of Supersonic Flight\u201d<\/h2>\n

Spike Aerospace<\/strong><\/a>
Spike Aerospace continues to work on the Spike S-512 Supersonic Jet program which is moving along very nicely and we are very excited about the progress made this year. Our slogan is \u201cIt\u2019s Good to be Quiet\u201d reflecting the quiet low-boom supersonic flight the S-512 will offer. But also quiet by staying out of the public lime light \u2014 for now. Rather than issuing constant press releases about timing, funding or customers, we are operating in a semi-stealth mode where what we are doing is well known but the specifics are reserved for our key stakeholders.<\/p>\n

Hermeus<\/strong><\/a>
Hermeus has raised $100m round this year and has been making impressive progress towards a hypersonic aircraft. They have built a number of partnerships with Raytheon, Air Force and others.<\/p>\n

Boom Supersonic<\/strong>
Boom faced a set back in September 2022 when Rolls Royce said they would not be developing an engine for the Overture. Boom did deliver on their promise to announce an engine by the end of 2022 and today announced it is going to develop its own engine with three partners. Super ambitious and expensive. Most engine programs, by very experienced engine manufacturers, take 10+ years and $1b+ to deliver.<\/p>\n

Exosonic<\/strong><\/a>
Earlier this year, Exosonic announced funding rounds from venture capital sources and AFWERX (Technology Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory) to develop conceptual designs for a supersonic military transport.<\/p>\n

NASA X-59 QueSST<\/strong><\/a>
Little known background, the X-59 program is actually a spin off from Supersonic Aviation International\u2019s program called QSST started by Gulfstream\u2019s founder Allen Paulson\u2019s son, Michael Paulson. The program contracted Lockheed Martin to design and build the plane. But by 2010, SAI ran into financial problems. QSST morphed into NASA\u2019s X-59 QueSST and partially because of LM\u2019s involvement in the QSST\u00a0 program, NASA selected them to build the X-59 QueSST.<\/p>\n

History aside, the X-59 is a single pilot (no passengers), single engine, limited range demonstrator supersonic aircraft. It is primarily designed to test out aerodynamic concepts to reduce the sonic boom and to collect data on what levels of sonic boom are perceptible and acceptable to the public. It was expected to fly in 2022, but perhaps in 2023?<\/p>\n

NASA promises the design, data and research will be available to companies involved in supersonic development.<\/p>\n

Lockheed Martin QSTA<\/strong>
Lockheed\u2019s involvement with the X-59 program has led to early conceptual designs for a 40 seat Mach 1.8 aircraft. I haven\u2019t been able to find further information on this aircraft.<\/p>\n

Virgin Supersonic<\/strong>
I haven\u2019t seen any update on Virgin\u2019s concept for a supersonic jet and can\u2019t find their website.<\/p>\n

Russian SST2<\/strong>
Announced development on a supersonic jet. The latest iteration is for 4 to 18 passengers at Mach 1.8. Seems to have limited funding, for a government program. Perhaps the country is too absorbed by other atrocities?<\/p>\n

Other Development Efforts<\/strong>
The Chinese and Japanese are both researching and working towards conceptual designs for a supersonic aircraft. Gulfstream is very private about new aircraft projects until they roll out of the hangar fully powered. They have been researching supersonic for decades. Boeing, Sukohi and Dassault have also worked on and off on supersonic programs. Likely, there is a European company working on supersonic flight?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure I\u2019ve missed some companies or have left out some details. Please let me know.<\/p>\n

Vik Kachoria
President & CEO
Spike Aerospace, Inc.<\/p>\n

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