A supersonic jet built by Boom Technology broke the sound barrier for the first time Tuesday, advancing its bid to resurrect high-speed passenger flights.

Boom Supersonic's XB-1 made history on Tuesday by becoming the first civil aircraft to break the sound barrier. Before Tuesday, no civil private manufacturer had passed the sound barrier with an aircraft it had developed.

An aircraft developed by Boom Supersonic became the first independently funded jet to break the sound barrier this week. The XB-1 aircraft accelerated to Mach 1.05 at about 35,000 feet during a test flight Tuesday in the same Mojave Desert airspace in California where Charles “Chuck” Yeager was the first person to break the sound barrier in 1947.

Boom Supersonic's XB-1 jet just broke the sound barrier. Achieving Mach 1.112 is a milestone for the aerospace brand, which began operations in 2014.

US civil sector boldly goes where Concorde has gone before The US civilian aviation sector has achieved what Concorde managed half a century ago – piloted supersonic flight in a domestically built jet.

Commercial aircraft will soon be ready to break the sound barrier again as Boom Supersonic’s demonstrator aircraft, the XB-1, has made its first supersonic flight. The XB-1 achieved the milestone on 28 January 2025 at the Mojave Air & Space Port in California.