First American-made supersonic civilian jet breaks sound barrier in flight over the Mojave Desert

American aircraft company Boom Supersonic proved their name by successfully flying their civilian jet, the XB-1, faster than the speed of sound over the Mojave Desert Tuesday.

The test flight out of the Mojave Air & Space Port took about 34 minutes and reached 35,290 feet in altitude, with the XB-1 reaching a max speed of Mach 1.122, about 750 mph, Boom said in a release.

The plane broke the sound barrier at about 8:30 a.m. local time in California, Boom said in a social media post.

The flight took place in the Bell X-1 Supersonic Corridor and Black Mountain Supersonic Corridor over the Mojave Desert. The Bell X-1 air corridor is named for the plane flown by U.S. Air Force pilot Capt. Chuck Yeager when he became the first aviator to break the speed of sound in 1947, also flying over the Mojave Desert.

Despite the company’s moniker, the test flight did not actually produce an audible sonic boom. Boom CEO Blake Scholl explained in a social media post that not all booms reach the ground, depending on the speed of the plane and other conditions.

The company says that the technology used to power the XB-1 will be used for their planned Overture passenger jet, which would travel at a speed of Mach 1.7 which is about double the speed of today’s passenger jets.

“XB-1’s supersonic flight demonstrates that the technology for passenger supersonic flight has arrived. … Next, we are scaling up the technology on XB-1 for the Overture supersonic airliner. Our ultimate goal is to bring the benefits of supersonic flight to everyone,” Mr. Scholl said.

There has not been a supersonic commercial passenger jet in operation since the final flight of the Anglo-French Concorde in 2003, and Boom noted that pilot Tristan Brandenburg’s jaunt in the XB-1 was the first human-piloted civilian supersonic flight since.

“I’ve been waiting over 20 years for the return of supersonic speeds, and XB-1’s historic flight is a major landmark towards my dreams being realized,” Mike Bannister, the former chief Concorde pilot for British Airways, said.