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Market forecasts predict a potentially large market for a Quiet Supersonic Business Jet provided that several technical hurdles are overcome prior to fielding such a vehicle. In order to be economically viable, the QSJ must be able to fly at supersonic speeds overland and operate from regional airports in addition to meeting government noise and emission requirements. As a result of these conflicting constraints on the design, the process of selecting a configuration for low sonic boom is a difficult one. Response Surface Methodology along with physics-based analysis tools were used to create an environment in which the sonic boom can be studied as a function of design and mission parameters. Ten disciplinary codes were linked with a sizing and synthesis code by using a commercial wrapper in order to calculate the required responses with the desired level of fidelity.

The demand for air travel is expanding beyond the capacity of existing airports and air traffic control. This excess traffic often results in delays and compromised safety. Therefore, a number of initiatives to improve airport capacity and throughput have been proposed. However, in order to assess the impact of these technologies on commercial air traffic one must move beyond the vehicle to a system-of-systems point of view. This top-level point of view must include consideration of the aircraft, airports, air traffic management and airlines that make up the airspace system. In addition to the analyses of each of these components and their interactions, a thorough investigation of capacity and throughput technologies requires due consideration of other pressures such as economics, safety and government regulations. Furthermore, the air traffic system is inherently variable with constant changes in everything from fuel prices to the weather.