Artist’s drawing of a supersonic jet designed for speeds up to Mach 1.4, or approximately 1,000 miles per hour.
Aerion Corporation
Aerion Supersonic, the Nevada-based company that wanted to build business jets that can silently fly almost twice as fast as commercial aircraft, is being shut down, CNBC confirmed on Friday.
“In the current financial environment, it has proven extremely difficult to meet the planned and necessary large new capital requirements,” the company said in a statement to begin production of its AS2 supersonic jet.
“Aerion Corporation is now taking the appropriate steps to accommodate this ongoing financial environment,” the company said.
Florida Today first reported on the company’s abrupt shutdown.
Aerion wanted to fly its first AS2 jet by 2024, with the goal of entering commercial service by 2026. The company developed a patented technology called “Boomless Cruise” that would allow AS2 to fly without generating a sonic boom – a problem that plagued supersonic Concorde jets of the past.
The AS2 was priced at $ 120 million per jet. Aerion CEO Tom Vice said at a UBS conference in January 2020 that he expected AS2 development to cost the company approximately $ 4 billion, with $ 1 billion to develop an engine at this point had been issued.
The company had entered into several partnerships along the way – including with NetJets from Boeing, General Electric and Berkshire Hathaway – and achieved sales of $ 11.2 billion for its AS2 jets. Earlier this year, Aerion announced in a press conference with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that a $ 375 million manufacturing facility would be built at Orlando Melbourne International Airport.
An Aerion spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment on what will happen to Aerion’s assets.
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