Supersonic Transport

Supersonic Transport

A supersonic transport (SST) is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. To date, the only SSTs to see regular service have been the Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144. The last passenger flight for the Tu-144 was in June 1978 and it was last flown in 1999 by NASA. The Concorde's last commercial flight was in October 2003, with a November 26, 2003 ferry flight being its last airborne operation. Following the permanent cessation of flying by the Concorde, there are no remaining SSTs in commercial service.

Supersonic airliners' greater speed and efficiency over their conventional counterparts have made them objects of numerous recent and ongoing design studies. Drawbacks and design challenges are excessive noise generation (at takeoff and due to sonic booms during flight), high development costs, expensive construction materials, great weight, and an increased cost per seat over subsonic airliners. Despite these challenges, the Concorde was operated profitably in a niche market for over 27 years.