Initially backed by Gulfstream Aerospace from October 1988, the Jaffe Group took over in September 1989 and the first SJ-30 flew on February 13, 1991 but development halted afterwards.

The Taiwan-based Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corporation rescued the program, the jet was stretched by 4.3 ft (1.3 m) into the SJ30-2 with a wingspan increased by six feet (1.8 m).

Dubai investors acquired Sino Swearingen in 2008, changing its name to Emivest, but production ceased in November 2009 and the company filed for bankruptcy on October 26, 2010.

On April 7, 2011, assets were sold to its aft fuselage supplier Metalcraft Technologies, renaming the company SyberJet Aircraft and planning to restart production in 2019.

Gulfstream withdrew from the project in September 1989, causing Swearingen to get backing from the Jaffe Group of San Antonio, with the aircraft to be built in a factory next to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.

The first SJ-30 flew on 13 February 1991, and was demonstrated at the 1991 Paris Air Show, but development ground to a halt when financial support from the state of Delaware was withdrawn.

[3] The program was rescued by Lockheed, who arranged a joint venture between Swearingen and Taiwanese investors as part of the offset agreement for Taiwan's purchase of the F-16 fighters.

Approval of this request allowed the SJ30 program to exceed the 12,500 lbs takeoff weight limit of Part 23 and paved the way for other companies to follow the SJ30 lead.

The crash was attributed to "incomplete high-Mach design research, which resulted in the airplane becoming unstable and diverging into a lateral upset.

The Dubai-based company became the majority shareholder in Sino Swearingen, with the Taiwanese government and private investors taking minority stakes.

[16] The SJ30i made its maiden flight on 9 October 2019 from San Antonio, Texas, starting an 18-month certification test program with deliveries planned for early 2021.