Pretty sure we already had one of these and it was deemed not economically viable after like 30 years of operating at a loss basically.
It seems to be an attempt to solve one of the two problems with the Concorde - reduce the sound of the sonic boom so that it can fly at supersonic speeds over land and not just water. This would make the planes more economically viable as they can fly more routes. The other problem, though, which is not mentioned in the article, is the absurd amount of fuel the Concorde needed. Still going to be a major issue if they haven’t made these more efficient.
There exists a research paper claiming that a much more fuel efficient plane is possible: https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.2022-3314
Problem is, it is locked behind a paywall that I cannot circumvent. But even if the paper is only half-true, it still implies a large efficiency gain is possible.
Considering the current goal is to fit as many passengers in a single flight, I doubt this new “Concorde” has a wide market except in the luxury category.
They are testing new sound muffling tech so the sonic boom that is created will not affect populated areas. Currently, supersonic jets are banned due to the power of the sonic boom.
They will start testing in populated areas and gather data.
This is not futurology, it’s the past, it was called Concord, and wasted loads of fuel and money, we don’t need that again.
What does it run on?
