Supersonic flying is not new, but there are many companies working on a comeback for this method of flying. But unfortunately, startup Exosonic has gone bankrupt, which had already gone quite far with its supersonic aircraft.
Some people remember supersonic flying from the Concorde. This aircraft was retired at the end of 2003 because it had too many challenges. You could fly from Paris to New York in three hours, but the Concorde was noisy, environmentally unfriendly and expensive. Since then, things have seemed quiet around supersonic flying, but there are now many companies working on new solutions in this branch. Even NASA is aiming to make supersonic flight commercially available.
Exosonic stops
As much hope as there is for supersonic flight, it still appears to come with many challenges. Startup Exosonic must close its doors after five years. “While the founders and team continue to believe in the need for silent supersonic flight and supersonic drones for the U.S. Department of Defense, without further customer support for either concept the company cannot provide the financial resources needed to make further progress books,” said Exosonic.
Exosonic was founded by Norris Tie, an engineer who came from Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin and worked there, among other things, on the supersonic aircraft for NASA. Exosonic managed to raise investments, but this appears not to have been enough to really continue with its initiative. A shame, because it completed the first successful flight with its aircraft this year.
Supersonic flying
It was a smaller variant of the aircraft that it ultimately had to be. The period between development and commercial availability, which is also called the ‘valley of death’ in the tech world, turned out to be too long for Exosonic, so it is now stopping. The money has run out, but it is hoped that the knowledge gained can be put into other supersonic aircraft.
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Source: www.bright.nl
