The Tu-144 got off to a rocky start. At the Paris Air Show in 1973, the airplane crashed. Whether this incident was due to pilot error or an engineering flaw, it certainly was not a good look for the aircraft, especially in its direct competition with Concorde, which was also at the same airshow.

Once it started carrying passengers in 1977, the Tu-144 was further riddled with problems. Mainly, the cabin was loud. Airplanes aren't known to be quiet machines, but it was exceptionally bad here. The passengers could not hear each other talk or shout, and resorted to passing notes for communication. The Tu-144 would not have been well-suited for long haul operations either. The always-activated afterburners, as well as the heavy weight of the aircraft made it a gas-guzzling beast that would not have gotten far without needing to refuel.

A Tupolev 144LL taking off; part of the collaborative research project between NASA and the Russians. NASA photo by Jim Ross, 1998; Public domain.

After flying just one hundred and two commercial flights, 55 with passengers, the Tu-144 was retired after a short-lived operational history amidst a political embarrassment. Concorde went on to fly until 2003.

It wasn't the end of the Tu-144 though. After the Cold War ended, the US decided they wanted to collaborate with Russia on mutually beneficial research projects, one of which involved supersonic transport. In 1998 and 1999, the collaborative project went according to plan, and researchers were able to gather valuable data regarding supersonic transport. After the program ended, the aircraft has never flown since.