The rise and fall of Aerion
Yuvan Kumar
28th May 2021, 9:35
It all began in 2004, when Texan billionaire Robert Bass decided to re-commercialise supersonic aerial travel by launching Aerion Supersonic. By 2021, it had a backlog of $11.2bn – or 93 orders – for its AS2 supersonic jet. And soon after announcing the near-hypersonic AS3, a new concept, the company ground to a halt, shutting down unexpectedly last weekend.
At $120m each, the Mach 1.4 AS2 promised to connect any two points on Earth
“in three hours or less” by 2027. Industry veteran Dr Richard Tracy spearheaded the vision for supersonic business travel, alongside ex-Gulfstream and Rolls-Royce engineer, Michael Hinderberger and others.