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 supersonic aircraft is nearing its maiden flight, having completed low-speed taxi tests and preparing for medium- and high-speed tests.
The X-59 is central to NASA's Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QUESST) effort, designed to reduce loud sonic booms to quiet "thumps" through innovative features like a unique tapered nose and an external vision system for the pilot.
The aircraft's test flights are crucial for gathering data to help U.S. and international regulators establish new noise standards, potentially leading to the lifting of the 1973 ban on civil supersonic flight over land.

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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.