Supersonic business jet

A supersonic business jet (SSBJ) would be a small business jet, intended to travel at speeds above Mach 1.0. Typically intended to transport about ten passengers, SSBJs are about the same size as traditional subsonic business jets. Larger commercial supersonic transports such as the Aérospatiale/British Aerospace Concorde and Tupolev Tu-144 'Charger' had relatively high costs, and high noise, low range and some environmental concerns (although these problems were less evident in the Concorde than the Tu-144).

Several manufacturers (notably Cessna) believe that many of these concerns can be dealt with 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.

No SSBJs are currently available, but several manufacturers are working on or have worked on designs, including but not limited to:

* Aerion SBJ
* Cessna design of unknown nature.
* Sukhoi-Gulfstream S-21
* Tupolev Tu-444
* Supersonic Aerospace International QSST [http://www.saiqsst.com/] [http://www.saiqsst.com/faq.html] [http://www.flug-revue.rotor.com/FRtypen/FRQSST.htm]

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

References

* " [http://www.flug-revue.rotor.com/FRheft/FRHeft04/FRH0412/FR0412c.htm Supersonic Business Jets Announced] ." "Flug Revue". December, 2004.
* " [http://www.ainonline.com/Publications/Paris_01/pd1tealstudypd1.html Bizjets a ‘commodity’ says Teal Group study] ." Kirby J. Harrison, "Aviation International News". 2001.
* " [http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/stories/2004/09/27/daily11.html Supersonic business jet announcement at NBAA] ." Ken Vandruf, "Wichita Business Journal". September 27, 2004.