Boom Supersonic has redesigned its proposed Mach 1.7 airliner, adding a medium-bypass engine and shrinking its maximum passenger load 9 percent, the company said at the Farnborough Air Show. The company also is widening the wingspan and shortening the fuselage.
Boom also said it had added Collins Aerospace, Eaton, Northrop Grumman, and Safran Landing Systems to the Overture supersonic transport’s development team, The Centennial, Colorado-based company is still on track for first flight in 2026 and entry to commercial service in 2029, founder and CEO Blake Scholl told CNBC at the show southwest of London.
“We’ve been making great progress,” Scholl said. “Really proud of what we’ve done in the last 12 months.”
The company said the redesign followed “26 million core-hours of simulated software designs, five wind tunnel tests, and the careful evaluation of 51 full design iterations” and would make the Overture more “economically and environmentally sustainable.” The redesigned, composite SST will carry 65 to 80 passengers. As recently as January, the company said the Overture would be able to carry 88 passengers.
Boom is not holding off on the Overture program to incorporate supersonic-signature reductions being developing by NASA. Those boom-dampening efforts are aimed persuading regulators to ease their ban on supersonic flight over land. Boom said the 201-foot-long, 36-foot-high (61.3-meter-long, 11-meter-high) Overture would fly at Mach 0.94 over land, with 106-foot (32.3-meter) wingspan. Overture’s previous design used a 59-foot (18-meter) wingspan.
The SST, which is being designed to fly 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), will now use four wing-mounted, medium-bypass turbofan engines, Boom said. Images released with the news show four underslung nacelles with relatively narrow inlets. Previous images showed two underwing inlets and inlets at the tail. The propulsion redesign will reduce noise, the company said, “while also decreasing costs for airline operators.” The Overture’s designed range is 4,250 nautical miles (7,870 kilometers).
The fly-by-wire Overture also will use an automated noise reduction system, which Boom said would be the world’s first. The jet will fly without afterburners, complying with the same ICAO Chapter 14/FAA Stage 5 noise limits that today’s latest airliners meet.
Boom has also reshaped Overture’s fuselage to have a larger diameter at the front and a smaller one aft “to minimize drag and maximize fuel efficiency at supersonic speeds,” the company said.
Overture’s 201-foot-span (18.7-meter-span) wings have been reshaped, Boom said, “to enhance supersonic performance,” improve subsonic and transonic handling, and help “ensure safety and stability at any speed.” Images released appear to show slight anhedral angles at the wing roots and tips. The aircraft would use digital leading- and trailing-edge flap control, Boom said.
Boom said it would begin outfitting a new, 70,000-square-foot (roughly 6,500-square-meter) hardware ground test facility in Centennial, Colorado to house its first full-scale, “iron bird” Overture testing model as well as flight deck simulators. The test model will be used for integrating the Overture’s flight hardware, software, and systems. In January, Boom selected Greensboro, North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad International Airport for its Overture manufacturing site. Production there is scheduled to begin in 2024.
Collins’ role in the Overture program will be to assist Boom in evaluating and developing major aircraft systems and components, including the SST’s ice protection system and air data system architectures.
Eaton is working with Boom to develop the Overture’s fuel distribution, measurement and inerting systems.
Northrop Grumman will work with Boom to develop special mission variants of the Overture for the U.S. government and its allies, including variants for quick-reaction surveillance and reconnaissance, command and control, mobility and logistics missions, and emergency medical and troop transport.
Boom will work with the Safran unit to develop the Overture’s landing systems.
Boom previously has said it is collaborating with Rolls-Royce on the Overture’s development.
Updated July 21: The original version of this story included incorrect numbers for the Overture previous engine configuration and aircraft dimensions.
Pratt & Whitney has successfully tested the GTF Advantage engine configuration with 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The test took place at the company’s facility in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA starting on March 1. The company says this marks a key step on the road toward 100 percent SAF operation of GTF-powered aircraft. The test is also a key element of a development program to ready the GTF Advantage for entry into service in 2024, by validating the engine’s performance on 100 percent SAF in thrust transients, starting and operability.
“We’re thrilled to have successfully tested the GTF Advantage engine on unblended SAF,” said Graham Webb, chief sustainability officer at Pratt & Whitney. “The GTF Advantage represents the greenest, lowest emission engine in the industry, and it is now demonstrating full operational capability for the greenest aviation fuels of today and tomorrow. Operation on 100 percent SAF is a key component of the industry’s commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and the completion of these tests get us closer to that goal.”
Pratt & Whitney has been actively involved in testing SAFs for almost two decades and helped to establish the technical standards that allow today’s engines to operate on SAF blends of up to 50 percent with standard kerosene. Pratt & Whitney is working towards validating its engines to operate with 100 percent SAF, and the company continues to collaborate closely with the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI) and ASTM International in service of that goal.
“Sustainable aviation fuels are central to the challenge of decarbonizing aviation and reaching our industry’s net zero goal. Validating and certifying the GTF Advantage engine on 100 percent SAF will ensure this engine’s ability to deliver sustainable propulsion to our customers over many decades of service,” said Sean Bradshaw, technical fellow for sustainable propulsion at Pratt & Whitney. “We remain dedicated to working with the industry on creating a viable path for SAF development, production and distribution.” Pratt & Whitney used 100 percent Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosine (HEFA-SPK) fuel acquired from World Energy for the test. HEFA-SPK is a specific type of hydrotreated vegetable oil fuel used in aviation and is considered a leading alternative replacement for conventional jet fuel by CAAFI due to the sustainability of its feedstock.
Aero Capital Solutions (ACS) a mid-life aircraft and engine leasing platform, has announced a strategic alliance with GE Digital that will support the delivery of a range of optimization services to the lessor’s airline partners.
As part of ACS’ commitment to support sustainable business practices, the alliance with GE Digital will facilitate ACS’ lessees to enhance the efficiency of their aircraft operations thereby reducing their environmental footprint and carbon-related costs.
The optimization services will be offered by GE Digital, using its data and analytics platform that merges airlines’ flight data with flight plans to tactically increase aircraft fuel efficiency and reduce waste. This will enable ACS’ airline partners to achieve fuel burn reductions, optimize aircraft and engine maintenance scheduling, and evolve and enhance pilot training.
ACS has created this partnership as part of its long-term ESG commitment and will receive no payment from GE Digital for any business it refers to them.
“Partnering with a world-class organization like GE Digital to deliver these services for our customers reflects ACS’ long-term commitment to our ESG goals,” Jason Barany, CEO and CIO of ACS, said. “This alliance will enable our customers to optimize their aircraft utilization while reducing their footprint.”
“We feel a responsibility to make our world better for future generations,” said Andrew Coleman, general manager for GE Digital’s Aviation Software business. “This includes ensuring that our customers and partners are empowered to reduce the impact of their environmental footprint within their operations with digital technology. We are proud to partner with ACS to further their goals to deliver environmental solutions to their customers.”
OrbitalMicro Systems (OMS) recently that its Global Earth Monitoring System (GEMS), WeatherRecord, WeatherLock, and International Center for Earth Data (ICED) capabilities have been competitively selected across the entire Department of Defense (DoD) after nomination by the U.S. Space Force to the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Defense Exportability Features (DEF) program.
The DEF program is designed to develop and incorporate technology protection features into designated systems during their research and development phases with the goals of enhancing coalition interoperability, decreasing costs to the DoD and partner nations, and improving the international competitiveness of U.S. defense systems.
Through this initiative, OMS, a leader in advanced instrumentation for earth observation, will perform market research for the DoD regarding the potential to export its technology portfolio to countries who have signed defense cooperation treaties or agreements with the United States, including the Combined Maritime Forces, Organization of American States, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Five Eyes, Five Power Defense Arrangement, ANZUS treaty, Compact of Free Association, U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership, Japanese Security Alliance, South Korea Mutual Defense Agreement, India Major Defense Partner, and Rio treaty. In addition, OMS will outline a plan to incorporate the necessary program protection and security features to enable future export of its capabilities.
In its nomination for the DEF program, the Space Force noted that the OMS technology portfolio has a high degree of potential for export to international government customers who lack in-country Meteorological Satellite (MetSat) and Meteorological Data (MetData) capabilities.
“OMS is truly humbled to be selected for the highly competitive DEF program and is working quickly to engage with 20 U.S. government stakeholder organizations to coordinate this complex effort, including the Space Force, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),” said Michael Hurowitz, OMS chief executive officer. “Our unique passive microwave satellites (GEMS), data platform (ICED), WeatherRecord nowcasting, and WeatherLock forecasting systems enable continuous monitoring of and rapid access to environmental data to inform mission critical decisions. Our suite of technologies can cost-effectively deliver MetSat and MetData capabilities to countries without their own space-based weather observation infrastructure.”
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team fully deployed its 21-foot, gold-coated primary mirror, successfully completing the final stage of all major spacecraft deployments to prepare for science operations.
A joint effort with the European Space Agency (ESA) and Canadian Space Agency, the Webb mission will explore every phase of cosmic history – from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe.
“Today, NASA achieved another engineering milestone decades in the making. While the journey is not complete, I join the Webb team in breathing a little easier and imagining the future breakthroughs bound to inspire the world,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The James Webb Space Telescope is an unprecedented mission that is on the precipice of seeing the light from the first galaxies and discovering the mysteries of our universe. Each feat already achieved and future accomplishment is a testament to the thousands of innovators who poured their life’s passion into this mission.”
The two wings of Webb’s primary mirror had been folded to fit inside the nose cone of an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket prior to launch. After more than a week of other critical spacecraft deployments, the Webb team began remotely unfolding the hexagonal segments of the primary mirror, the largest ever launched into space. This was a multi-day process, with the first side deployed Jan. 7 and the second Jan. 8.
Mission Operations Center ground control at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore began deploying the second side panel of the mirror at 8:53 a.m. EST. Once it extended and latched into position at 1:17 p.m. EST, the team declared all major deployments successfully completed.
The world’s largest and most complex space science telescope will now begin moving its 18 primary mirror segments to align the telescope optics. The ground team will command 126 actuators on the backsides of the segments to flex each mirror – an alignment that will take months to complete. Then the team will calibrate the science instruments prior to delivering Webb’s first images this summer.
“I am so proud of the team – spanning continents and decades – that delivered this first-of-its kind achievement,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate in NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Webb’s successful deployment exemplifies the best of what NASA has to offer: the willingness to attempt bold and challenging things in the name of discoveries still unknown.”
Soon, Webb will also undergo a third mid-course correction burn – one of three planned to place the telescope precisely in orbit around the second Lagrange point, commonly known as L2, nearly 1 million miles from Earth. This is Webb’s final orbital position, where its sunshield will protect it from light from the Sun, Earth, and Moon that could interfere with observations of infrared light. Webb is designed to peer back over 13.5 billion years to capture infrared light from celestial objects, with much higher resolution than ever before, and to study our own solar system as well as distant worlds. “The successful completion of all of the Webb Space Telescope’s deployments is historic,” said Gregory L. Robinson, Webb program director at NASA Headquarters. “This is the first time a NASA-led mission has ever attempted to complete a complex sequence to unfold an observatory in space – a remarkable feat for our team, NASA, and the world.”
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