Boom Supersonic and NASA capture supersonic flight image

On 10th February 2025, during XB-1’s second supersonic flight, NASA used Schlieren photography to visualise the shock waves produced as the aircraft broke the sound barrier.

In January, XB-1 became the first independently developed jet to exceed the speed of sound and the first civil supersonic jet built in the US. NASA also gathered data on the jet’s acoustic signature, and Boom’s analysis confirmed that no audible sonic boom reached the ground.

“This image makes the invisible visible – the first American-made civil supersonic jet breaking the sound barrier,” said Blake Scholl, Founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. “Thanks to Geppetto’s exceptional flying and our partnership with NASA, we captured this iconic image and confirmed that XB-1 made no audible sonic boom, paving the way for coast-to-coast flights up to 50% faster.”

Boom Chief Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg flew XB-1 through precise waypoints computed by NASA, aligning it perfectly for ground telescopes to capture the imagery. NASA’s telescopes, equipped with special filters, documented air distortions such as shock waves as the aircraft passed in front of the sun.

Modelling of XB-1’s flight parameters suggested a high likelihood of Mach cutoff, where a sonic boom refracts in the atmosphere and does not reach the ground. This effect is influenced by altitude and atmospheric conditions. Data gathered from microphones and sound pressure sensors confirmed that supersonic flight without an audible boom is possible, supporting NASA’s research into commercial supersonic travel.

On 10th February, Boom announced it will use data from XB-1’s test programme to refine its “Boomless Cruise” technology for Overture. This will allow Overture to fly at speeds up to Mach 1.3 without generating an audible boom, reducing US coast-to-coast flight times by up to 90 minutes.

With XB-1’s flight test programme now complete, the aircraft will return to Denver, Colorado. Boom will focus on scaling its learnings to develop Overture, which has secured 130 orders and pre-orders from United Airlines, American Airlines, and Japan Airlines. In 2024, Boom completed its Overture Superfactory in Greensboro, North Carolina, which will scale to produce 66 Overture aircraft per year.