Boom Supersonic unveils its first turbine core and a $150M Superfactory to build 2GW of AI data-centre turbines a year
Key points
What's the news? Boom Supersonic on 22 October unveiled "Sprint Core", the first complete prototype core of the turbine that will power both Superpower, its 42MW natural gas turbine for AI data centres, and Symphony, the engine for its Overture supersonic airliner. The core combines the compressor, combustor and high-pressure turbine and carries more than 1,000 sensors. It ships this week to Boom's test site at Colorado Air and Space Port, with first firing expected before Thanksgiving.
The factory: Boom also opened its Superpower Superfactory in Centennial, Colorado: a nearly 200,000 square foot, two-building campus representing a $150 million investment that is already making turbine parts and should be fully operational in early 2027. Boom says it will make blisks, blades, vanes, shafts and cases in-house (about 85% of the final product by mass), targets first customer deliveries in mid-2027, and plans output of 1GW (25 turbines) a year by 2028 and 2GW (50 turbines) by 2029, creating up to 500 jobs. It is also developing an all-digital, toolless foundry for single-crystal turbine blades, with first components expected in 2027, and says the plant could switch to defence production through software changes.
Who showed up: US Energy Secretary Chris Wright joined the turbine reveal and Colorado Governor Jared Polis the factory announcement. Boom told The Denver Gazette it has a "pipeline" of customers for Superpower but has not named them. CEO Blake Scholl told CBS Colorado the power business began when he texted Sam Altman to ask whether a power turbine would help AI, and was told to make "as many as you can, as fast as you can".
Why it matters: Boom is pursuing its own engine after parting ways with Rolls-Royce, working with Florida Turbine Technologies, StandardAero and Colibrium Additive. Selling turbines to power-hungry data centres gives it revenue and test hours before Overture flies; the company still targets airliners around 2030 and has reported preorders and options from United, American Airlines and Japan Airlines.
Sources: Boom Supersonic on YouTube · Boom Supersonic press release · The Denver Gazette · CBS Colorado · Blake Scholl on X
