The Colorado-based company is aiming to build a Concorde-like supersonic aircraft—but has hurdles to clear before realizing that goal.

About 35,000 feet (10,670 meters) over the Mojave Desert, northwest of Los Angeles, Boom Supersonic's XB-1 became the first privately funded airplane to break the sound barrier during a test flight on Tuesday.

On its 12th test flight, the Boom XB-1 prototype broke the sound barrier three times and achieved a top speed of Mach 1.1.