Reno, Nevada-based Aerion said today that its market research, conducted over the past nine months by aerospace market research and strategy firm I², indicates that there is sufficient demand to proceed with development of the company’s proposed supersonic business jet (SSBJ). Aerion publicly unveiled its natural-laminar-flow-wing SSBJ in October at the NBAA Convention in Las Vegas, saying the aircraft could be in service by 2011. The study–released at the Paris Air Show–shows a market for between 220 and 260 Aerion SSBJs over a 10-year period, with approximately 20 percent of sales coming from the fractional market. Eighty-six percent of respondents were receptive to the Aerion concept, and 27 percent of respondents said they would buy the $80 million Aerion SSBJ if it were currently available. I² surveyed operators of business jets delivered between 1998 and 2003, including all large and intercontinental business jets, as well as the Mach 0.92 Citation X.