A Colorado startup wants to build supersonic passenger planes faster than Concorde but with fares a quarter of the price -- and Virgin Galactic has just got on board.
The Boom airplane would travel at Mach 2.2 -- more than twice the speed of sound and 2.6 times faster than any other airliner -- and fly from New York to London in 3.4 hours.
That's San Francisco to Tokyo in 4.7 hours or Los Angeles to Sydney in six.
That transatlantic trip cuts the standard seven-hour journey by more than half.
With a round-trip price tag of $5,000 it's not exactly "affordable" travel, but for the world's business elite, it's a steal.
It's certainly piqued British entrepreneur Richard Branson's interest: On Wednesday, his Virgin Group optioned 10 planes.
The deal, if it's followed through, could be worth a reported $2 billion.
Boom has also optioned 15 additional planes to an unnamed European carrier, the firm told TechCrunch, racking up a potential income of $5 billion.
Despite the big figures, the reality of a supersonic passenger jet remains small.
Denver-based Boom is still working on a third-scale prototype that isn't slated to fly until 2017.
The Boom airplane would travel at Mach 2.2 -- more than twice the speed of sound and 2.6 times faster than any other airliner -- and fly from New York to London in 3.4 hours.
That's San Francisco to Tokyo in 4.7 hours or Los Angeles to Sydney in six.
That transatlantic trip cuts the standard seven-hour journey by more than half.
With a round-trip price tag of $5,000 it's not exactly "affordable" travel, but for the world's business elite, it's a steal.
It's certainly piqued British entrepreneur Richard Branson's interest: On Wednesday, his Virgin Group optioned 10 planes.
The deal, if it's followed through, could be worth a reported $2 billion.
Boom has also optioned 15 additional planes to an unnamed European carrier, the firm told TechCrunch, racking up a potential income of $5 billion.
Despite the big figures, the reality of a supersonic passenger jet remains small.
Denver-based Boom is still working on a third-scale prototype that isn't slated to fly until 2017.
tags: supersonic airliner , boom , richard branson , nathan finneman , breed of speed , sirdrifto , speed of sound , mach 2
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