The X-59 QueSST will collect community response data on the acceptability of the ‘quiet sonic boom’ to assist NASA to establish an acceptable commercial supersonic noise standard to replace current regulations banning supersonic travel over land. In 2018, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works was selected for the design, build and flight test of the Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD) designed to cruise at 55,000ft at a speed of about 940mph while only creating a sound of 75 perceived level decibel (PLdB) (described as ‘only as loud as car door closing’), instead of a sonic boom. However, this prophecy remained unfufilled, as the commercial growth of the Concorde was limited by bans on commercial supersonic flights over land which limited its routes mainly to crossing the Atlantic between Europe and the US. The most successful design was Concorde which was heralded as the pioneer of a new generation of larger supersonic aircraft. Both aircraft were powered by turbojet engines with afterburners which had high fuel burn and take-off noise. There were two supersonic aircraft designs: the UK/France Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde which flew from 1976-2003 and the Russian Tupolev Tu-144 which ceased flying in 1978.

The first generation of commercial SSTs lasted fewer than 30 years from the mid 1970s to the early 2000s. The first age of supersonic travelĮnvironmental regulations have got tougher since the days of Concorde. BILL READ FRAeS reports.Ī new report, ‘ Environmental performance of emerging supersonic transport aircraft’, published by environmental research group The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) looks at whether new designs for supersonic transport aircraft (SST) planned to enter service in the 2020s may contravene environmental noise and emission standards. As work continues to develop new commercial supersonic aircraft designs, a new report questions how environmentally-friendly the new aircraft will be.

Simple green airplane drawings