Federal contract award

80LARC18F0129

U.S. DEMAND FOR A LOW-BOOM SUPERSONIC TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT. THIS TASK IS TO DETERMINE THE PASSENGER AND VEHICLE DEMAND FOR A LOW-BOOM SUPERSONIC TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT IN THE U.S. MARKET. A PREVIOUS TASK ORDER (NNL16AA36T) UNDER NASA/NIA CONTRACT NNL13AA08B EXAMINED THE GLOBAL MARKET FOR BOTH LOW-BOOM AND NON LOW-BOOM SUPERSONIC TRANSPORTS. THIS PREVIOUS STUDY IDENTIFIED TWO POTENTIALLY SEPARATE MARKETS FOR A SUPERSONIC TRANSPORT: A LONG RANGE (>2500 MI) MARKET FOR A NON LOW-BOOM SUPERSONIC TRANSPORT THAT HAS ROUTES PRIMARILY OVER OPEN WATER, AND AN INTERMEDIATE RANGE MARKET (BETWEEN 1,500 AND 2,500 MI) FOR A LOW-BOOM SUPERSONIC TRANSPORT THAT HAS ROUTES PRIMARILY OVER LAND. FOR THE LONG RANGE MARKETS, A LOW-BOOM SUPERSONIC TRANSPORT WOULD BE BURDENED BY THE WEIGHT AND PERFORMANCE PENALTIES ASSOCIATED WITH ITS LOW-BOOM DESIGN WITH LITTLE OR NO TRAVEL TIME BENEFIT COMPARED TO A NON LOW-BOOM AIRCRAFT, MAKING IT MUCH LESS COMPETITIVE. FOR THE INTERMEDIATE RANGE MARKETS, A LOW-BOOM SUPERSONIC TRANSPORT WOULD HAVE A CLEAR TRAVEL TIME ADVANTAGE OVER A NON LOW-BOOM TRANSPORT ON MOST ROUTES DUE TO ITS ABILITY TO CRUISE SUPERSONICALLY OVER LAND. IN ADDITION, IF THE DESIGN RANGE OF THE LOW-BOOM TRANSPORT WAS DECREASED TO REFLECT THE INTERMEDIATE RANGE MARKETS (DECREASING THE TAKEOFF GROSS WEIGHT (TOGW)), IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE CRUISE MACH NUMBER COULD BE INCREASED WITHOUT A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE BOOM SIGNATURE, PROVIDING EVEN MORE TRAVEL TIME SAVINGS. THE NEW STUDY WILL NARROW THE FOCUS TO LOW-BOOM SUPERSONIC TRANSPORTS OPERATING IN THE U.S., WHICH WILL PROVIDE A STRONG INDICATION OF THE VIABILITY OF AN INTERMEDIATE RANGE LOW-BOOM TRANSPORT. THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL ALSO EXAMINE THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF OPERATING A SUPERSONIC TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT AT U.S. AIRPORTS AND IN U.S. AIRSPACE. THE NEW AIRCRAFT COULD POTENTIALLY IMPACT AIRPORT/AIRSPACE CAPACITY, AIRPORT INFRASTRUCTURE, AND COMMUNITY NOISE.