Aerion always seemed to be a strange endeavor.
It was originally founded (and funded) by billionaire Robert Bass. Believe he originally made his fortune in the oil industry or something similar.
All the press releases over the years were promising (to me at least) in that they seemed to be doing a lot of "partnering" with established aerospace giants. Both aerospace primes and sub-tier suppliers. After all, if you got the bucks, the aerospace industry is more than happy to take your money and do all the R&D you want. I have to believe it's a hell of a lot easier to fund that work at an existing company, as opposed to building all that R&D capability from scratch. It seemed like Aerion wanted to position themselves as somewhat of a prime contractor who would do the final assembly, testing, sales, etc.
All that said, their partner list seemed like a revolving door. From Wikipedia:
Aerion initially partnered with Airbus on the project in September 2014. In December 2017, Airbus was replaced as a partner by Lockheed Martin. Its General Electric Affinity engine for the AS2 was unveiled in October 2018. In February 2019, Boeing replaced Lockheed Martin as a partner.
So, Airbus, to Lockheed, to Boeing, to insolvent. Have to wonder how you go through all three of those companies in such a short period of time. Can't imagine that's an efficient way to do business.
Following them on Linkedin had me scratching my head a bit too. All kinds of updates about their move from Reno to Melbourne FL, and the big beautiful "campus" they would build in Melbourne. It was going to be the greatest, greenest manufacturing facility the world ever did see. They seemed to be putting the emphasis on everything except, you know, designing and building a supersonic airplane.
I dunno. I'm typing out a lot of words on a Saturday morning just cause I'm jaded and cynical. There just seems to be an incredible amount of aviation-related vaporware out there, of which Aerion is just the latest example. Urban Air Mobility, Electric-powered aviation, unmanned passenger and cargo transport, etc. I want to read about real, tangible advancements and developments, and not just the latest impressive bit of computer animation.