Boom Supersonic (Stand G53) enters the Singapore Air Show coming off an eventful 2017, highlighted by the unveiling of 76 pre-orders, an airline partner, and some $40 million in funding to back its efforts to build a supersonic passenger airliner.

As much news as the company generated last year, however, the months ahead could be even more compelling. If all goes as planned, Boom expects to fly its one-third-scale XB-1 demonstrator, which it calls "Baby Boom," before the end of the year. It also could announce the location for its production facility where it will build its Boom Supersonic airliners. Boom in November said it has begun a site-selection process for production of its full-scale aircraft. Among the criteria: a site with "previous aerospace influence" and room to grow, the company said.

In December, Denver-based Boom announced its first airline partner, revealing Japan Airlines (JAL)—which once held options for three Aerospatiale Concordes—as a strategic investor with aircraft-purchase options.

"With a $10 million investment and pre-order of 20 aircraft, this is not just a milestone for Boom, but one for civil aviation," Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl wrote on the company's blog. "JAL is the first airline in history to make a material financial commitment to a faster future. Concorde had dozens of pre-orders — but none carried any financial commitment, and ultimately British Airways and Air France got their Concordes for just £1 apiece."

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The JAL agreement formalized what has been more than a year of collaboration, Scholl said, noting that the airline's team is providing input on everything from technical operations to the passenger experience. Boom's primary target is the intercontinental business-class passenger. It has unveiled two cabin concepts, one with 45 seats including 10 in first class, and a 55-passenger layout. Scholl says the dual-class cabin fits longer-range flights such as transpacific routes, where a lie-flat seat may be desirable. The standard, single-class Boom configuration would have a seat pitch of about 75 inches, ideal for transatlantic routes that might take three to four hours and don't require lie-flat seats.

Boom's goal is to "develop an airliner that will be a great addition to any international airline’s fleet," Scholl said when JAL was unveiled as a partner. He says is company is engaged with about 20 airlines—five of which have placed either deposits or made pre-order commitments. The only other announced pre-order customer is Virgin Atlantic, with deposits for an undisclosed number of airplanes.

“The airlines that are placing reservations are putting real money against them,” Scholl said at the 2017 Paris Air Show, where he unveiled the customer commitments. “These aren’t letters of intent.”

While Scholl and other company executives regularly express high regard for the legendary Concorde program, they are adamant that technological advancements in the five-plus decades since Concorde production began will enable Boom to develop a more efficient, practical supersonic passenger aircraft that will succeed even if current supersonic over-land restrictions don't change. He believes that new technology will make supersonic flight less of a nuisance over land than it was in Concorde's day, leading to removal of current regulatory restrictions. If not, he is confident that—unlike Concorde—the Boom aircraft could succeed even if its supersonic fight profile were restricted to overwater routes.

If all goes as planned, the Boom Supersonic airliner will enter service sometime in the mid-2020s. The company's next major development milestone is getting the Baby Boom airborne. The aircraft, which will be powered by three General Electric J85-21 engines with variable-geometry intake and exhaust, completed preliminary design review last year and is slated to begin test flights in late 2018. Its target cruise speed is Mach 2.2—the same as the full-scale aircraft. The demonstrator is expected to fly with Honeywell avionics, Tencate carbon fiber prepreg, and 3D-printed components and tooling from Stratasys.

Scholl says the company has enough funding to get it through Baby Boom's development and first flight. The JAL investment pushed its announced funding past $50 million, including a $33 million Series A round unveiled in March 2017.