NASA/Lockheed Martin X-59A Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST)

NASA’s X-59 Prepares for Supersonic Flight

May 28, 2026
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft is gearing up for some of its most significant flights yet as teams continue expanding the aircraft’s flight envelope ahead of upcoming tests at speeds faster than sound.

Since the aircraft’s first flight, the X-59 team has spent months evaluating its performance and handling qualities across a growing range of flight conditions. Take a look at the milestones achieved so far that mark steady progress as NASA moves closer to the aircraft’s first supersonic flight.

The upcoming supersonic flights will help engineers evaluate the aircraft’s performance across more of its operating range as teams advance toward later phases of the Quesst mission.
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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0tAz8ZSFF8
 
X-planes aren't qualified for airports, they don't go thorugh all the typical safety qualitfication process to begin with.
 
NASA’s X-59 Flies Supersonic for First Time

Jun 5, 2026
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft completed its first supersonic flight Friday, June 5, 2026, marking the first time the aircraft exceeded the speed of sound in support of NASA’s Quesst mission. The milestone represents a major step in flight testing as the aircraft expands into the supersonic portion of its flight envelope. The display shows Mach 1.07, but the aircraft is actually at Mach 1.0. The difference comes from the system's calibration, which makes the shown value slightly higher than the true speed. The calibration will continue fine-tuning as we expand the X-59's flight envelope.
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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEchvBOW0hc
 
Flyaway said:
NASA’s X-59 Flies Supersonic for First Time

... The display shows Mach 1.07, but the aircraft is actually at Mach 1.0. ...
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Quite apart from puzzlement as to why their Machmeter seems out of whack, wouldn't that pedantically mean it flew sonic rather than supersonic?
 
Test pilot "Clue" Less feedbacks and more:

Friday’s flight will help NASA calibrate the aircraft’s onboard instrumentation, Less said, including the airspeed indicator.

“They told me I hit supersonic around the point where my indicator said Mach 1.03, so that will be adjusted,” he said.

Less said he first realized he had gone supersonic because he saw a shadow of the shock wave coming off X-59’s front canard. Such waves aren’t routinely visible to the naked eye, but he said the sun was at precisely the right angle to reveal it.
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https://aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/n...il&utm_source=rasa_io&utm_campaign=newsletter
 
NASA’s X-59 Aircraft Builds Momentum Through 25th Flight

After 25 test flights, NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic experimental aircraft steadily continues to pass performance marks set by its team. This successful run of tests has the aircraft on a path toward a new phase later this year, where NASA will evaluate the sonic thumps the X-59 is designed to make when flying faster than the speed of sound.

The X-59’s 25th flight took place Aug. 21, from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. It lasted a total of 72 minutes with the aircraft reaching Mach 1.2 and approximately 49,000 feet. Like all of its test flights so far, the X-59 was accompanied by a chase plane to monitor it. That chase aircraft’s sonic booms masked any noise from the X-59.

Reaching this point comes after years of design and analysis before the aircraft was built. Now, the X-59 team is seeing the predictions they made using computer models, wind tunnel tests, and other tools confirmed through flight testing.
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