The high speed civil transport: A technology challenge

It has been over 17 years since Concorde entered service with British Airways and Air France. The thirteen production aircraft are still safely operating and may extend their service life into the next century. We can appreciate the technical success Concorde has achieved. However, from the onset the aircraft was unable to achieve overall economic viability. Currently the aircraft does generate a yearly profit for British Airways which is privatized. Unacceptable airport noise and sonic boom overland levels were detrimental to the aircraft performing between many worldwide city pairs. On the horizon appears a possible successor to Concorde that will need to demonstrate environmental acceptability and economic viability shortly after the turn of the century. This vehicle has been labelled the High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT). I believe that we can overcome the environmental and economic goals based on encouraging market demand forecasts and technology improvements that are materializing in current research and development programs.