The sound barrier has officially been broken by the Boom supersonic jet, which has been dubbed the 'new Concorde'. The XB-1 test plane took off from California's Mojave Air and Space Port today at around 4pm GMT.
A half an hour later, the cutting edge plane broke the sound barrier – reaching speeds of 844 miles per hour which is also known as Mach 1.1. Aircrafts are classified as 'supersonic' once they break this significant speed.
The XB-1 is the first civil jet made in the US to break the sound barrier. The aircraft was made by Colorado-based technology firm Boom.
In two previous test flights, the jet demonstrated its ability to travel at "transonic" speeds of Mach 0.95. Boom hope their planes will eventually be used in regular passenger services after further tests.
This would mark a landmark first return to supersonic passenger flights since the end of Concorde, a joint UK-French enterprise which was retired over two decades ago after a deadly crash.
Air France Flight 4590 hit the ground shortly after takeoff in 2000 while en route from Paris to New York, leaving 113 people dead. The French airline and British Airways, who each had seven of the aircraft, began to take it out of service shortly afterwards and the last commercial Concorde flight set off in October 2003.
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