Virgin's Richard Branson to Revive Supersonic Air Travel

Believe it or not, supersonic air travel is literally a thing of the past. According to a few records, the world may be flying at a more reasonable speed than it used to about a decade ago. Richard Branson, founder of the popular airline Virgin, has decided to back up and invest in a start-up aviation company called Boom Technology in hopes of revitalizing the desire to travel faster than the speed of sound.

This Colorado-based company has unveiled their first prototype of what they call XB-1 on Tuesday, and it has garnered quite a few notable reports. This scaled-down prototype, which the media has loving called as Baby Boom, has been described as a two-seater fighter jet. According to a report from Time, the company website has introduced the XB-1 as one of the "world's first independently developed supersonic jet." It has also been described as the "fastest civil aircraft ever made."

With promising results from their unveiling to the media, Boom Technology plans to take their first flight by late of 2017. Furthermore, it may seem as well that they are in the works of developing a full-sized passenger plane which they hope to take out to its first flight by 2020. According to reports, this full-sized passenger plane would be expected to seat around 45 to 55 passengers, pretty much like a normal passenger aircraft. This particular jet is hoped to travel 2.6 times faster than existing flights. They are aiming to not only surpass the speed but also the economic viability of the famous Concorde.

Since it has a deal with Virgin, it is expected that the spaceship development sub company of Virgin known as Virgin Galactic will be helping out in the development and production of Boom Technology's two pioneering aircraft. As for the manufacturing, Branson has been dealing up with big companies and avionics makers such as Honeywell and General Electric.