The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has partnered with the country's major engineering companies and commercial airline industry for a joint program on building supersonic jets, Nikkei Asia reported Thursday.

The new public-private initiative, Japan Supersonic Research, plans to design a 50-passenger supersonic aircraft seen as a major step in the next generation of flight.

For more than 10 years, JAXA has worked on the sonic boom issue -- one of the main challenges to commercializing supersonic technology -- and has developed a streamlined jet design with a long, pointed nose to reduce friction and booms.

JAXA's new jet prototype consumes 13% less fuel and is 21% lighter compared with the technology used in the Concorde, Nikkei Asia said.

The Concorde is a French-British supersonic commercial airliner that had a top speed over twice the speed of sound. It was operated from 1976 until 2003.

The JSR initiative could create new opportunities for Japan's aerospace industry, which is currently limited to manufacturing fuselages and wings for large plane companies like Airbus and Boeing.

Members of the consortia are, Japan Aircraft Development Corp., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, IHI, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Subaru.

"JAXA and others in Japan have accumulated some of the world's highest-level technology and research for supersonic aircraft," Airline Ratings quoted Masahiro Kanazaki, as saying. Kanazaki is a professor at the aeronautics and astronautics department of Tokyo Metropolitan University.

Supersonic planes can cut travel time between San Francisco and Tokyo to six hours from 10. Although fares will be higher than those for conventional jets, estimates suggest demand for 1,000 to 2,000 supersonic aircraft over the next decade, the report said.