Georgia Tech student's jet-powered drone hits 491 mph in record attempt

The drone’s performance and costs

According to Mashable, the Reaper RC drone, designed by Tomas Salvo, reached 491 mph (790 km/h) while carrying a 2.6-pound (1.2 kg) payload. The drone sustained this speed for four minutes, climbed to 6,500 feet, and covered a 31-mile range at full throttle.

The project has cost approximately $70,000 so far. This includes $40,000 for engines and testing, $6,000 for fuel and fuel systems, and a $20,000 contingency for redesigns or replacements due to damage or underperformance.

Funding and next steps

Salvo’s GoFundMe campaign has raised over $16,000 toward a $50,000 goal. Contributors pledging $500 or more gain access to a private email list for updates, while those donating $5,000 or more can attend a test flight in person.

The next test flight of the Reaper M1 prototype is scheduled for late November or early December. To break the sound barrier—Mach 1—the drone will need to gain an additional 276 mph.

The Boom Prize and competition

The drone is competing for the $800,000 Boom Prize, offered by Boom Supersonic. The prize will be awarded to the first amateur-built, radio-controlled aircraft to break the sound barrier. The payout includes $750,000 in cash and $50,000 in Boom Supersonic stock.

Boom Supersonic, led by CEO Blake Scholl, is also developing a commercial supersonic airliner, positioning this prize as both a technical challenge and a recruiting tool for the broader aerospace industry.

What this means

Lazyfounder analysis — our interpretation, not reported fact.

For founders and operators, Salvo’s project is a case study in how audacious technical goals—even those pursued by students or small teams—can capture public imagination and funding. The $70,000 invested in the Reaper drone is a fraction of what established aerospace firms spend on similar experiments, yet it has delivered results that rival or exceed them. This underscores the potential for low-cost, high-risk innovation to disrupt industries traditionally dominated by deep-pocketed incumbents.

The Boom Prize itself reflects a shift in how aerospace breakthroughs are incentivized. Rather than relying solely on government contracts or institutional R&D, companies like Boom Supersonic are using prize-driven competition to attract talent and ideas. For startups in aerospace or adjacent fields, this model could offer an alternative path to validation and funding.

The project also highlights the practical challenges of supersonic flight, from engine costs to fuel efficiency. While breaking the sound barrier remains the headline goal, the real lessons may lie in how Salvo’s team solves—or fails to solve—these problems on a tight budget.

Key takeaways

• This project demonstrates how ambitious engineering goals can attract funding and attention, even from students with limited resources.
• The pursuit of the Boom Prize highlights a growing trend of private sector incentives driving aerospace innovation outside traditional institutions.
• The technical challenges of supersonic flight remain formidable, but projects like this could inspire similar low-cost, high-risk experiments in aerospace.

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