Spike Aerospace

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has released new regulations streamlining the path to supersonic flight testing over US soil, giving a new generation of super-fast aircraft a chance to prove their "boomless cruise" capabilities over land.

Spike Aerospace took to the skies for the first time on Saturday as it tested a subsonic, subscale version of its planned S-512 supersonic passenger plane. The unmanned SX-1.2 made the first of a series of seven short flights to prove the validity of the aircraft's aerodynamics.

Supersonic air travel is experiencing a rebirth of sorts lately, at least in terms of new concept designs. Spike Aerospace, in particular, aims to make it possible to travel faster than sound over new parts of the world by greatly reducing the sonic booms that result from breaking that threshold.

Spike Aerospace has unveiled design changes to its S-512 supersonic jet, which was unveiled as a concept in 2013. Among other things, it now has a delta wing configuration for better aerodynamics.

Aircraft windows have always been a sticking point in the bid to go faster. Aircraft engineering firm Spike Aerospace is set to overcome these problems by doing away with cabin windows altogether in its S-512 jet and replacing them with video screens embedded into the walls.

Boston-based Spike Aerospace is looking to leave both Cessna Citation X and Gulfstream G650 in its wake with its S-512. Spike says its S-512 will be the world's first supersonic business jet, boasting a cruising speed of Mach 1.6, and a maximum speed of Mach 1.8.