$33 Million Baby Boom

Right now, the fastest nonstop flight from Los Angeles to Sydney is 15 hours. The Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 aims to make it in a little over 6 hours — and it’s coming soon. Also called the “baby boom,” the XB-1 will be world’s fastest and highest-flying jet. Once it’s in the air, same-day returns on around 500 routes worldwide will be a reality.

Boom just received $33 million in Series A funding from a group which includes The Spaceship Company of Virgin Galactic. This brings its grand total in raised funds to $41 million, enough to finish and test the jet. With a building cost of $329 million, Boom will be recouping some of the costs with expensive tickets: about $6,600 for one of its 45 seats.

With the possibility of flying from San Francisco to Tokyo in only 5 hours — or New York to London in only 3 hours and 15 minutes — as soon as 2020, it seems likely those 45 seats will go fast.

Fastest, Highest Jet

According to its parent, Boom, the XB-1 will be the first independently-developed supersonic jet, and the fastest civil airplane ever made. At 1,451 miles per hour, it will travel 10 percent faster than the Concorde did. It will also fly higher, at around 60,000 feet. This will give passengers a smoother, quieter ride. Every passenger also gets their way on the Baby Boom, because its two single-seat rows makes each seat both window and aisle.

All the additions are nice, but frankly, they had us at “same-day returns” — and 6 hours instead of 15.