Concorde and the future of supersonic transport

Commercial high-speed flight at supersonic speeds poses major technological challenges that were resolved during the 1960s and early 1970s and that led to a unique vehicle in the history of air transportation. The demonstration of sustained supersonic flight has been made on a regular basis by operating the Concorde over a period of more than a quarter of a century. It has also served to show the limitations of this remarkable aircraft. Commercial operation of Concorde ceased in 2003. It is timely to look back at this adventure and review how this aircraft evolved from a project to a vehicle, identify some of the lessons learned from this experience, and possibly dwell on these lessons for future development of a new supersonic aircraft program. From this viewpoint, it has become clear that no new supersonic transport could be designed without first breaking many fundamental and technical barriers. A new project will benefit from the modern tools devised by aeronautical science and technology during the last period, but advances will have to be made to resolve many difficult challenges. The main areas of progress are related to the environmental impact of the vehicle, to its global performance, and to operational considerations. Meeting the challenges will require fundamental progress in aerodynamic optimization for sonic boom and drag reduction, combustion management for emission reduction, engine design to comply with noise regulations, and propulsion integration to improve performance. The environmental impact of a fleet of supersonic airliners will have to be carefully evaluated and compared to that of an all subsonic air transportation system.