NASA’s Supersonic X-59 Is on the Move

Agency’s final stage of ground testing will culminate in the experimental model’s inaugural flight, targeted for later this year.

Jack Daleo

Friday, July 18, 2025 at 03:10 PM ET

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Jack Daleo

The experimental X-59 features a thin nose that spans about one-third of its nearly 100-foot length, designed to break up shock waves. [Courtesy: NASA/Carla Thomas]

Key Takeaways:

NASA's X-59 "quiet supersonic" aircraft has begun low-speed taxi tests, a crucial final step before its first flight.
The X-59 is uniquely designed with features like a long, tapered nose to reduce sonic booms to a "gentle thump," instead of a loud crack.
The ultimate goal of the project is to gather public feedback on its noise profile to enable a reversal of the decades-long ban on commercial supersonic flight over land.

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For the first time, NASA’s quiet supersonic X-59 is moving under its own power.

The experimental aircraft has begun a series of low-speed taxi tests at contractor Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, the space agency said Thursday. First flight was initially scheduled for 2023 before being pushed to 2024 and now later this year. But taxi tests are the final step before it is cleared for takeoff.