NASA’s Quiet Supersonic X-59 Nears First Flight

Medium- and high-speed taxiing marks the final phase of ground testing for the experimental design.

Jack Daleo

Wednesday, August 20, 2025 at 01:02 PM ET

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Jack Daleo

NASA test pilot Nils Larson gets in the cockpit for X-59 ground testing at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in California. [Courtesy: Lockheed Martin]

Key Takeaways:

NASA and Lockheed Martin's X-59 aircraft, designed with unique features to reduce sonic booms to quiet "thumps," is nearing its maiden flight after completing low-speed taxi tests and preparing for high-speed trials.
The X-59 is central to NASA’s Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QUESST) effort, aiming to gather critical noise data for regulators to establish new standards and potentially lift the 50-year ban on civil supersonic flight over land.
This project aligns with broader industry and legislative efforts, including those by Boom Supersonic, to modernize supersonic flight regulations, focusing on noise limits rather than speed, with international bodies also advancing new global noise standards.

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NASA and Lockheed Martin’s supersonic X-59 aircraft—which moved under its own power for the first time in July—is nearing its maiden flight.

The space agency on Tuesday said it is “about to begin” medium- and high-speed X-59 taxi tests, the final step before takeoff. The linchpin of NASA’s Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QUESST) effort, X-59 test flights will help U.S. and international regulators create noise standards for civil supersonic flight over land, which the FAA has banned since 1973.