New ‘green Concorde’ could take off in 2025
‘Overture’ is the name of a new supersonic aircraft that could soon take flight. The plane looks like Concorde, but is much less noisy and will be powered by a special type of carbon-neutral fuel.
On 24 October 2003, Concorde landed after its last commercial flight. For 27 years, the British-French plane type had been the world’s only supersonic airliner, but in the end it proved too expensive to operate, and Concorde had to be pensioned off. Since then, several planemakers have wanted to revive supersonic flying, and now Boom Supersonic has come a big step closer to getting its superfast Overture airliner airborne.
One of the world’s major carriers, United Airlines, has now ordered 15 supersonic planes from Boom Supersonic, and the two companies have agreed to join forces to develop the aircraft and the special fuel it will use. Concorde was designed in the 1960s, so Overture engineers have a half century of technical development to incorporate.
From a distance, Overture will look rather like a Concorde, with the characteristic triangular design.
But the new hull is made of light modern composites, and the engines will be a new silent type that will allow the 80-tonne aircraft to cruise at a speed of 2000km/h without the use of afterburners. It was Concorde’s use of afterburners that contributed to its sky-high fuel consumption.
Boom Supersonic has a particular focus on the fuel. While Overture’s consumption will be minimised by optimising aerodynamics, its fuel will also be ‘SAF’, or Sustainable Aviation Fuel, made from agricultural waste products instead of crude oil. According to this plan, this would allow the plane’s operation to be carbonneutral. Boom Supersonic hopes that Overture will take off for the first time in 2025 and enter operation in 2030.