Overture. Photo credit: Boom Supersonic

Boom Supersonic, a Denver-based startup aiming to revive the world of commercial supersonic travel, has announced that it’s reached a deal with Rolls-Royce, the famed airplane engine manufacturer, to explore the pairing of a Rolls-Royce engine with a supersonic aircraft being made by Boom. The aircraft, in particular, is named Overture and has already had purchase commitments from a sizeable number of airline companies. By concept, Overture is a Mach 2.2., 55-passenger aircraft with 8,300 kilometers of range, and with Boom’s newly announced partnership, the company is apparently looking to possibly use Rolls-Royce propulsion systems in it. In that market, Rolls-Royce is already the manufacturer of choice for many aircraft companies.

Under the partnership, respective teams from Boom and Rolls-Royce will investigate whether an already existing Rolls-Royce engine architecture can be adapted for supersonic flight. This will give more space for Boom’s personnel to focus on Overture’s airframe architecture.

“We’ve had a series of valuable collaborations and co-locations with Rolls-Royce over the past years to lay the groundwork for this next phase of development,” Blake Scholl, Boom’s CEO, said in a press statement. “We look forward to building on the progress and rapport that we’ve already built with our collaboration as we work to refine Overture’s design and bring sustainable supersonic transport to passenger travel.”