US and French Firms Team Up to Accelerate the Return of Supersonic Travel
A U.S. firm attempting to bring commercial supersonic air travel back will use a design package owned by a European aerospace giant.
Boom Supersonic announced Wednesday that it has bought the cloud-based design system from Dassault Systemes called 3DEXPERIENCE. The system, typically used by designers of new small planes, generates a three-dimensional visualization of a plane’s components and how they fit together.
In its press release, the aerospace start-up claimed the design tool would cut development time of its first prototype in half as well as improving the plane’s build quality.
Boom’s founders hope to develop a 55-seater plane called “Overture” that will break the speed of sound but be 30 percent more efficient and 30 times quieter than the Concorde.
If it reaches the production and certification stage, Overture would fly at a top speed of Mach 2.2, allowing journeys from New York to London in just over 3 hours and from Tokyo to San Francisco in 5 and a half
Boom has said it is targeting the mid-2020s for it to enter service.
