[fryd_w]

Boom’s real challenge isn’t just showing they can go supersonic—it’s designing an engine and airframe combo that can operate at scale, hit reasonable ticket prices, and address stricter environmental policies than Concorde ever faced. The XB-1 proves they’re capable of building a small supersonic jet, but the gap between a funded prototype and a viable passenger fleet is enormous. Unless they can tackle those regulatory hurdles (especially around overland noise), keep operating costs competitive, and deliver a new engine that supports their performance claims, we’re still not much closer to a reliable Mach-plus commercial service than we were in the 1970s. It’s progress, but we shouldn’t confuse a cool proof-of-concept with a profitable flight network.

Any case - truly impressed by their persistance. Pushing something for such a long time despite being so far from any commercial traction feels insance to me.

[engineer_22]

> Pushing something for such a long time despite being so far from any commercial traction feels insance to me.

They must have something that you ain't got...

[Avshalom]

Extremely generous investors?

[gcanyon]

I think they were going for "the right stuff"

[1970-01-01]

>hit reasonable ticket prices

There's much more to this. Their biggest competition may be cheaper Meta headsets paired via Starlink. Why travel as fast as possible when you can simply be there instantly for a fraction of the cost?

[CrI0gen]

I really don't think that will be competition at all. People like to travel and the demand is there for faster international flights. For business travel, people either prefer to go in person or have to be in person. Also with time zone differences, virtual meetings require one party to often have to meet at odd times. The ticket price probably will be higher than what most people want to spend for vacation, but there will still be plenty of people willing to pay.

[runako]

> paired via Starlink

What advantage does Starlink provide here? Isn't it a higher-latency, slower connection than most people have access to at home?

[1970-01-01]

Their new goal is just 20ms.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/spacex-tries-again-to-reduce-star...

[runako]

I still don't see the advantage for most people to choose a broadband provider that costs more for less bandwidth and higher latency. Seems like most people would only choose Starlink if they are in an area underserved by fixed broadband.