[5] The design was unveiled at Centennial Airport in Dove Valley, near Denver, Colorado, on November 15, 2016,[6] and it was initially intended to make its first subsonic flight in late 2017, powered by General Electric CJ610 (civilian version of GE's J85) turbojet engines, with subsequent supersonic flight test planned elsewhere.

[8] Its preliminary design review was completed by June 2017, with a switch of engine to the GE J85 to take advantage of its extra thrust.

The Spaceship Co., manufacturer of Virgin Galactic's vehicles, was announced as a partner for flight tests in Mojave, California.

[12] At the June 2019 Paris Air Show, Blake Scholl announced the date for first flight was pushed out to 2020, six months later than previously planned after including a stability augmentation system for better safety at high speed and at take-off and landing.

[20] In January 2022, Boom began conducting engine run-ups using the XB-1 in preparation for taxi tests and the first flight later in 2022.

[1] On April 16, 2024, the FAA issued a special license for the XB-1 to exceed Mach 1 at the nearby Black Mountain Supersonic Corridor.

[31][32] The aircraft is planned to be put on display in the lobby of Boom Technology's headquarters in Denver, Colorado, after the conclusion of its test program.

[33] The XB-1 "Baby Boom" is 68 feet (21 m) long with a 17 ft (5.2 m) wingspan and a 13,500-pound (6,100 kg) maximum take-off weight.

Powered by three General Electric J85 engines with variable geometry inlets and exhaust, the prototype should be able to sustain Mach 2.2 with more than 1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) of range.

It has a planned two-crew cockpit, with only one seat being fully developed in the demonstrator, and features swept trailing edges.

[10] The airframe will be primarily intermediate-modulus carbon fiber/epoxy, with high-modulus fibers for the wing spar caps and bismaleimide pre-preg for the high-temperature leading edges and ribs.

[34] Data from Boom Supersonic,[2] Aviation Week[6][11][needs update]General characteristics Performance Related development