Blake Scholl: Why Plane Speed Stalled, Supersonic Commercial Flight, & Revolutionizing the Engine
September 22, 2026 · 18 min
🎙️ Full episode
DEBRIEFWritten and voiced by AI from the episode's audio
Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic, joins the All-In hosts to discuss the resurgence of commercial supersonic flight and an unexpected pivot into power generation for data centers. After 12 years building toward Mach 1.7 passenger flights across the Atlantic in 3.5 hours, Boom broke the sound barrier in 2025 with XB1—the first privately developed supersonic jet—using a revolutionary "boomless cruise" technique that redirects sonic booms upward via atmospheric refraction. This breakthrough led to the lifting of the 1973 supersonic ban via executive order and unanimous passage of the Supersonic Legalization Act through Congress. Rather than outsourcing engine development to legacy manufacturers, Boom is building its own jet engines from scratch using advanced digital design and manufacturing. Unexpectedly, these engines have become a financial game-changer: by removing the front fan and adding a rear generator, the same high-temperature engine core powers data centers at 42 megawatts with zero water cooling. Scholl describes tens of gigawatts of pre-demand in his inbox, positioning the data center business as a near-term revenue driver that funds the longer development cycle for commercial supersonic passenger flights, targeted for around 2030. The company plans to manufacture at scale from raw materials through final assembly in a vertically integrated factory now producing parts.
🎧 AI Debrief
Show notes
() Welcome Blake Scholl!
() Solving the sonic boom & legalizing supersonic flight
() The pivot to powering data centers
() Jason joins: data center demand, private jets & what winning looks like
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