Tuesday’s XB-1 flight marks the first human-piloted civil supersonic flight since Concorde’s retirement more than 20 years ago, and paves the way for the return of commercial supersonic flights aboard Overture, possibly before the end of this decade.

The single-seat jet, a 201-foot-long test model by Boom Supersonic, hit 844 mph just 12 minutes into its latest test flight out of California’s Mojave Air and Space Port.