The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced on June 30 that the FAA has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would replace the more than 50-year-old prohibition on overland civil supersonic flight with a regulatory framework focused on limiting noise rather than speed.

As Tom Ozimek reports for The Epoch Times, the proposal marks a key step in implementing President Donald Trump's executive order signed last month directing the FAA to repeal regulations that the administration says have unnecessarily constrained U.S. aerospace innovation.

"For more than 50 years, outdated and overly restrictive regulations have grounded the promise of supersonic flight over land, stifling American ingenuity, weakening our global competitiveness, and ceding leadership to foreign adversaries," Trump said in the order.

If finalized, the rule would clear the way for what the DOT described as a new generation of commercial supersonic aircraft capable of dramatically reducing travel times while minimizing the noise impacts that led regulators to ban such flights in the early 1970s.

"Restoring supersonic flight over land isn't just about speed, it's about unleashing American innovation and ushering in a Golden Age of Travel," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.

Current regulations prohibit civilian aircraft from flying faster than Mach 1 over U.S. land except under special flight authorizations for research and testing in isolated test areas.

The FAA aims to finalize the rule by mid-2027.

Shift From Speed Limits to Noise Limits

Under the proposed rule, that blanket speed restriction would be replaced with a noise-based operating standard.

Aircraft operators would instead have to prove through FAA-approved measurement, modeling, or other methods that their aircraft can prevent excess levels of sonic boom overpressure at the ground.

By adopting a performance-based regulatory framework, the proposal would usher in what the FAA described as a clear pathway for "safe, efficient, and commercially viable operation of civil supersonic aircraft in the United States."

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said that innovative technologies have made it possible for the agency to rethink regulations adopted decades ago.