Eight years after the Concorde was retired, civil aviation remains firmly limited to subsonic speeds. Market studies continue to show an untapped demand for high-speed flight, but the financial commitment to tackle the technical challenges of developing an economically and environmentally viable supersonic transport has yet to materialize. The central challenge is reducing sonic boom, and the key questions that must be answered before a next-generation supersonic transport can be developed are what level of boom is achievable and what will people accept? Progress being made in answering the first question will remain largely academic until an answer to the second one can be agreed to by the international aviation community.
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