How to watch the first supersonic flight of Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 aircraft

By Trevor Mogg Published January 27, 2025

Boom Supersonic's XB-1 test plane. — Boom Supersonic

Boom Supersonic is just hours away from performing the first supersonic flight of its XB-1 test plane. A successful test will take it a big step toward its goal of launching supersonic passenger flights before the end of this decade.

Boom Supersonic will live stream the first supersonic flight of Boom’s demonstrator aircraft, which is set for Tuesday morning at the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California. Read on for full details on how to watch.

Recommended Videos

XB-1 is the world’s first independently developed supersonic jet and the first civil supersonic jet built in the U.S. The aircraft has so far completed 11 test flights since its first one in March 2024. Its most recent outing saw it reach speeds of Mach 0.95 — just below the supersonic threshold of Mach 1.

Tuesday’s test, however, will see the aircraft break the sound barrier for the first time, “setting the stage for the return of supersonic travel” that was lost with the retirement of Concorde in 2003, Colorado-based Boom said.

XB-1 contains the technology that will help Boom build its supersonic commercial airliner, Overture, with the likes of United and American Airlines having already placed orders.

Overture will have a top speed of Mach 1.7, slower than Concorde’s maximum speed of Mach 2.04, but still fast enough to cut in half the seven hours that it takes to fly from New York to London on a conventional passenger jet.

Powered by sustainable aviation fuel, Overture will fly up to 80 passengers at a cruising altitude of about 60,000 feet, more than 20,000 feet higher than today’s commercial jets.

How to watch

The first-ever supersonic flight of Boom’s XB-1 test plane is set to take place at the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California, at at 7:45 a.m. PT (10:45 a.m. E.T) on Tuesday, January 28, though the schedule could change depending on weather conditions or any last-minute technical issues that surface.

You can watch the live stream on Boom’s website.

Viewers will get to see air-to-air footage of the XB-1 aircraft during its supersonic flight, as well as a Q&A session hosted by former Concorde pilot Mike Bannister with Boom CEO Blake Scholl and chief test pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg.

Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Topics

Space

SpaceX Starship reaches orbit for the first time but its historic flight ends early

Starship reaches orbit for the first time and deploys 26 Starlink satellites before an early splashdown.

spacex-starship

After 13 suborbital test flights and more than $15 billion in development costs, SpaceX's Starship has finally reached orbit. The 407-foot megarocket, the most powerful ever built, lifted off from Starbase, Texas, on Monday and delivered its first real payload on it's 14th attempt. The celebration came with an asterisk, though, since SpaceX had to cut the planned 10-hour mission to roughly three hours.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/2104601695711904180

Space

Starship is finally going orbital, and SpaceX has picked September 22

Flight 14 is aiming for orbit, Starlink V3 deployment and a very long day in space.

Starship rocket.

SpaceX is finally ready to give Starship its biggest test yet. The company says the massive rocket's 14th test flight is scheduled for September 22, when it will attempt to put the upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time. The launch is currently pending regulatory approval, with a 75-minute window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT.

Starship has 26 Starlink satellites to deliver

Space

Want a city on the Moon? Scientists say there’s not enough water

A billion tons still comes up short

Artist impression of activities in a Moon Base.

For decades, humanity has looked up at the Moon and wondered what it would be like to live on it. Think sprawling cities, factories, research centers, and permanent human settlements. Unfortunately, there is one fairly fundamental problem with that vision.

A new study published in Frontiers in Space Technologies argues that even the Moon's potentially enormous reserves of frozen water may be nowhere near enough to support city-sized populations sustainably. Researchers Martin Elvis and Jonathan McDowell estimate that the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles could contain roughly one billion tons of water. It sounds like an extraordinary amount until you put a million thirsty humans next to it.