AFWERX Vector Prime: Supersonic Transport Public Market Research

Due Date: 9 April 2021 Description: The resurgence of supersonic/high-speed passenger travel is gaining momentum due to advances in technology that allow for accelerated design and construction. Vector Prime is looking to synergize with the commercial sector to help accelerate commercial supersonic development by facilitating access to testing facilities and comprehensive flight data analysis.

Category

Opportunity

DoD Communities of Interest

Air Platforms

Subject

AFWERX Vector Prime: Supersonic Transport Public Market Research

Due Date

9 April 2021

Government Organization

AFWERX

Description
The resurgence of supersonic/high-speed passenger travel is gaining momentum due to advances in technology that allow for accelerated design and construction. The revival of supersonic interest can be attributed to many factors, including:
- Rising air passenger traffic
- Increased business class demand
- Growing demand for faster long-distance travel
- Evolution of lightweight aerodynamics/carbon composites
- More efficient engines
- Availability of renewable fuels
- Advances in additive manufacturing
 

Vector Prime is looking to synergize with the commercial sector to help accelerate commercial supersonic development by facilitating access to testing facilities and comprehensive flight data analysis.

Vector Prime also strives to shape supersonic regulatory policy discussions by providing a platform for aircraft developers to raise their concerns and needs.

Supersonic Transport Background:

AFWERX is seeking diverse industry partnerships and engagement to identify key technology sectors under the Supersonic Transport initiative. If “primed” by government engagement, it could advance US national security and economic interests. This campaign is part of the Vector Prime initiative.

Details of Supersonic Transport:

The world has normalized to moving at Mach 0.8 for 60 years. There is substantial pent-up demand for modernization in aviation that will require high-risk projects that push the boundaries of what has been accomplished in aviation.

We believe there is an opportunity to reinvigorate the United States’ capability to develop advanced civil aircraft. There has not been a drastic improvement by the US since Boeing introduced the jet age in the 1950s and 1960s. By definition, high-speed mobility is fundamentally a globally-impactful technology. It shrinks the world—a global society can become regional or better. We envision faster point-to-point travel that ignites the imagination is commercially viable and environmentally sustainable.

Why Supersonic Transport?

Finally, cross-country travel is possible in half the time with low boom supersonic transport.

Faster travel means people can visit anywhere the global reach is more responsive. It will be easier to have the right effect in the right place at the right time.

There will also be immediate military use for executive transport. The faster transport of government executives holds promise for heading off conflicts before they get going - better diplomatic outcomes (admittedly hard to quantify).

The future military value will be in fast cargo and military resource transport.
- Value to the USAF Test and Evaluation community for being part of state-of-the-art aircraft testing.
- Get enough fidelity in the capabilities of commercial models to influence MAJCOM's options in prosecuting war
- Supersonic speed will be the "stealth" of the 21st Century and decisive in the next conflict.

Stakeholders involved:
- USAF
- NASA
- OCEA

The objective of the market research:

We seek feedback from industry, investors, academia, and government to inform how the Vector Prime initiative will be fashioned. The feedback received through this survey will be used to establish a program that will be funded to quickly advance technology maturity, investment readiness, and market adoption of commercial capabilities toward Supersonic Transport and derived business opportunities.

What’s in it for industry?

USAF and NASA are willing to partner with industry and provide access to high-speed computing tools, simulation expertise, testing capability, wind tunnel access, and funding. USAF is ready to support the research and development of small businesses in the US to support this initiative to include areas of interest such as sonic boom optimization, aerodynamics, and alternative fuels. Industry will not have to reinvent the wheel with specialized ground and flight test capabilities, which will allow our commercial partners to move faster—assuming facilities are available and move quickly. **OVER-LAND** Flight test ranges (range safety, telemetry ground infrastructure, off-board sensing, spectrum, long-range airspace corridors) are key to developing high-speed aircraft quickly.

The US Government can also drive supersonic policy and integration into aerospace infrastructure by supporting regulatory issues such as more overland supersonic corridors or support for them in congress. If the FAA and its European counterparts change restrictions on boom over land, this will grow interest in airliners and private flyers.

We believe there is a $340B + industry in the commercial supersonic travel space to exploit for US businesses a CAGR of 5.82% through 2035. Commercial Overseas travel to be faster and cheaper facilitates international business.

Investors want to see USAF help de-risk the high-speed transport technologies in the early stages and show that they want these aircraft through pre-orders or letters-of-interest

Testing together builds trust - necessary for certification (either w/DoD, FAA, EASA, etc.)

Next Steps:

Upon completion of the market research, the Vector Prime: Supersonic Transport concept will be refined as appropriate, hopefully leading to the program's formal launch.

Website

https://prime.afwerx.com/topic/detail/default/28