Spike, in particular, aims to make it possible to travel faster than sound over new parts of the world by greatly reducing the disturbing sonic booms that result from breaking that threshold.

The company says that its planned S-512 18-passenger jet (which we've covered in detail previously) will employ proprietary technology that basically optimizes the craft's aerodynamic design "primarily through shaping of the wing, fuselage and tail [...] to minimize any disturbing sound created by the sonic wake."

Historically, supersonic passenger flights like those offered via Concorde until the fleets were grounded in 2003 have only been available for trans-oceanic routes where sonic booms would not disturb large population centers. Spike sees its Quiet Supersonic Flight (QSF) technology opening up routes over Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.