The race for quiet supersonic flight takes a leap forward with NASA's X-59. But what challenges remain before it becomes a reality?

Supersonic airliner developer Boom is making its NBAA-BACE debut this year, with rival Spike also advancing its quest to build a business jet capable of flying faster than sound. But is there a market and are the multiple technological challenges surmountable?

You might wonder why it’s taken so long for supersonic flight to make a comeback - but a key development has now cleared the path. In June 2025, the United States passed a crucial piece of legislation that lifted the decades-old ban on supersonic travel over land. The new plane - the Overture by Boom Supersonic - is already in testing.

The technologies that are being worked on in quiet aerodynamics, advanced shaping, noise suppression, and community acceptability data could forever alter how supersonic aircraft are constructed. This could then lead to entirely new markets opening up in the civilian world for supersonic airliners,

Supersonic air travel feels simultaneously like our past and our future. Although it may have once seemed like an impossible feat, engineers cracked the code and broke the sound barrier back in 1947. Then in 1973, the first supersonic passenger plane ...

AS THE U.S. MILITARY IS SET TO SEND AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER STRIKE GROUP - TO THE WATERS OFF SOUTH AMERICA. WMUR'S MARISSA TANSINO IS HERE WITH HOW THIS IS ALL PLAYING OUT.. AND THE CONCERN FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE SENATOR JEANNE SHAHEEN.

The craft is part of the US space agency's mission to find a way for ordinary planet travel to become much faster. Find out more here.

Supersonic jet the Concorde first took off in 1969, then started offering incredibly fast commercial flights from 1979. The aircraft set the record for the fastest ever transatlantic crossing in 1996, reaching London from New York in a mere two hours, 52 minutes, and 59 seconds.

After the Space Race there was the supersonic race, as three countries vied to build the first passenger supersonic airliner