📅 Timeline: Late 2025 – Engine core tests begin
📍 Colorado Air & Space Port (Watkins), Colorado, USA
Category: Engineering / Aviation / Aerospace
Tag: #SymphonyEngine #SupersonicPropulsion #BoomlessCruise
🧭 Overview
Boom Supersonic is preparing to initiate engine core testing for Symphony—the bespoke medium‑bypass turbofan that will power the Overture supersonic airliner—by the end of 2025. Located at the Colorado Air & Space Port, this first-of-its-kind facility will test the 12-foot core containing the compressor, combustor, and turbine under controlled conditions.
This marks a concrete shift from simulators and wind tunnels into real-world system validation—crucial for certifying performance and unlocking Boom’s “boomless cruise” vision of quiet, overland Mach flight.
🚀 Core Technologies & Processes
1. Prototype High‑Pressure Core
12 ft long × 4 ft diameter precision-machined assembly includes high‑pressure compressor, combustor, and high‑pressure turbine.
Engine core thrust capacity: 35,000 lbf; optimized for Mach 1.7 cruise and 100% sustainable aviation fuel compatibility.
2. Test Facility & Instrumentation
Formerly a hypersonic test site, now configured with a control room and high‑bandwidth instrumentation for real-time data capture during test runs.
Investment of $3–5 million to retrofit safety systems, install a dedicated fuel farm, sensors, and data pipelines.
3. Additive Manufacturing and Rig Tests
Engine parts include additively‑manufactured fuel nozzles and turbine frames, produced through GE’s Colibrium Additive partnership.
Over 30 separate rig tests to validate components like fans, compressor stages, combustion stability, and nozzle acoustics.
🔧 Why It Matters
Hardware Validation: Testing real components under flight-like conditions is critical to progressing from design to certified engine.
Quiet Supersonic Propulsion: Symphony enables Boomless Cruise—supersonic speed with minimal sonic impact—by mastering mixed-noise exhaust and Mach-spread airflow.
Next-Gen Manufacturing: Additive parts and rapid rig test cycles accelerate the development timeline, reducing cost and risk.
Production Pathway: Once validated, Symphony will enter full-scale testing in 2026, with production at StandardAero (San Antonio)—targeting 330 engines/year on new assembly lines.
📋 Project Timeline
March 2025 – Technical design review completed; engine components begin fabrication.
Late 2025 – Prototype core testing begins at the Colorado Air & Space Port.
2026 – Full-scale Symphony turbofan testing begins, incorporating complete inlet and bypass systems.
Mid-2020s onward – Targeted production scale-up to 330+ engines per year at StandardAero’s San Antonio facility.