OPERATING HIGH-SPEED FLIGHTS IN HIGH ALTITUDE CLASS E AIRSPACE.

SEC. 1011. [49 U.S.C. 40103 note] OPERATING HIGH-SPEED FLIGHTS IN HIGH ALTITUDE CLASS E AIRSPACE. (a) Research.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the Administrator of NASA and any other relevant stakeholders the Administrator determines appropriate, including industry and academia, shall undertake research to identify, to the maximum extent practicable, the minimum altitude above the upper boundary of Class A airspace, at or above which flights operating with speeds above Mach 1 generate sonic booms that do not produce appreciable sonic boom overpressures that reach the surface under prevailing atmospheric conditions. (b) Hypersonic Defined.—In this section, the term “hypersonic” means a flight operating at speeds that exceed Mach 5.