Boom Supersonic has selected a site at the Colorado Air and Space Port to test the medium-bypass turbofan it and partners are developing to power a conceptual supersonic passenger aircraft.
Denver-based Boom disclosed the location of the site on 25 April, saying it intends this year to begin using the facility to test the core of the engine, which it calls Symphony.
“Boom expects to expand the site in 2026 to facilitate full-scale testing of the entire Symphony turbofan prototype,” the start-up adds.
Boom is developing a Mach 1.7 aircraft called Overture that is to carry 64-80 passengers and have 4,250nm (7,871km) of range.
Engines are among the programme’s most complex challenges. Boom had previously aimed to source powerplants from a major engine supplier, but those firms backed away from the project several year ago.
That prompted Boom to strike out on its own to develop the 35,000lb (156kN)-thrust engine it calls Symphony. Partner Florida Turbine Technologies (FTT), a Kratos Defense & Security Solutions division, is charged with completing much of Symphony’s design. Other contributors include maintenance partner StandardAero and GE Aerospace subsidiary Colibrium Additive, which is providing additive-manufacturing consulting.
“The Symphony engine continues to progress rapidly,” Boom says. “Multiple parts have already entered the manufacturing phase and engine assembly will start later this year.”
The Colorado Air and Space Port is about 30 miles (48km) from Denver, and Boom’s site there houses “a control room and advanced instrumentation”, it says. Boom intends to invest $3 million to $5 million to prepare the facility for testing Symphony’s core, “slated to start later this year”.
The core includes a compressor, combustor and turbine, and measures 3.7m (12ft) long and 1.2m wide, Boom says.
The testing facility was formerly used for evaluating technologies related to hypersonic engines.
UK company Reaction Engines had in recent years partnered with the US Air Force to test hypersonic powerplants at Colorado Air & Space Port.
