Boom Supersonic Completes First Supersonic Turbine Core for Superpower, Begins Testing in Colorado
Why It MattersBoom is using a data-center power product to fund its supersonic airliner program, tying the Overture's development path to demand from artificial intelligence infrastructure rather than airline orders alone.
Boom Supersonic said in late October that the first supersonic turbine core for its Superpower solution has been completed and is on site at the company's test facility at Colorado Air and Space Port in Watkins, Colorado. The prototype, called Sprint Core, combines the compressor, combustor and high-pressure turbine, and is similar to the technology that will go into both the Superpower power-generation solution and the Symphony supersonic engine.
Superpower is a 42-megawatt natural gas turbine that Boom announced at the end of last year for AI data centers. It was originally conceived as a component of the Symphony engine intended to power the Overture supersonic airliner. Boom will use the hardware and the thousands of sensors attached to it to calibrate engineering tools at its Superfactory in Centennial, in the South Denver area, and to optimize production of the Superpower design.
Boom says part of the revenue from selling Superpower to artificial intelligence infrastructure providers, with a reported $1.25 billion backlog of orders, will help fund development of the Overture. The Overture is designed to carry 80 passengers at Mach 1.3 (997 mph/1,605 kph), enough to cross the United States coast to coast in about one and a half hours. United Airlines, American Airlines and Japan Airlines have placed around 130 orders for the aircraft. If production goes ahead, Boom expects to build up to 66 aircraft per year at a further Superfactory in Greensboro, North Carolina.
