Supersonic business jet

Sukhoi SSBJ project model

A supersonic business jet (SSBJ) would be a small business jet, intended to travel at speeds above Mach 1.0 (supersonic aircraft). No SSBJs are currently available, although several manufacturers are working on or have worked on designs.

Typically intended to transport about ten passengers, proposed SSBJs would be about the same size as traditional subsonic business jets. Only two large commercial supersonic transports ever entered service: the Aérospatiale/British Aerospace Concorde and Tupolev Tu-144. They had relatively high costs, high noise, high fuel consumption and some environmental concerns. Both were operated under large government subsidy and did not recoup development costs.

Several manufacturers believe that many of these concerns can be successfully addressed at a smaller scale. In addition, it is believed that small groups of high-value passengers (such as executives or heads of state) will find value in higher speed transport.

Current and former proposals for SSBJs include:

• Aerion SBJ
• Aerion AS2
• HyperMach SonicStar
• SAI Quiet Supersonic Transport
• Spike S-512
• Sukhoi-Gulfstream S-21
• Tupolev Tu-444

Several companies, including Gulfstream Aerospace, continue to work on technologies intended to reduce or mitigate sonic booms. An example is the Quiet Spike.

References

External image
Concept drawings

• "Supersonic Business Jets Announced." Flug Revue. December, 2004.
• "Bizjets a ‘commodity’ says Teal Group study." Kirby J. Harrison, Aviation International News. 2001.
• "Supersonic business jet announcement at NBAA." Ken Vandruf, Wichita Business Journal. September 27, 2004.
• "[1]". In depth analysis of the Supersonic Business Jet, written by Jeremy R.C. Cox, and published by Forbes magazine at their website.
• "Your Supersonic BizJet May Be Taking Off Shortly" Mark Patiky, Forbes magazine, 8/2/2013.
• "Forget the Hyperloop, Brace for Supersonic Travel" By Jennifer Booton, Fox Business. August 16, 2013.
• "Age of supersonic business jet nears" By David Black, November 4, 2012
• Aviation Recruitment Solutions from SOS Aviation