Ars Technica reports, “More than two decades since the Concorde supersonic airliner last took to the skies, NASA has been flying an experimental aircraft designed to replace loud sonic booms with a quieter thump equivalent to a car door slamming shut 20 feet away.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)
Tag: QueSST
NASA X-59 Reaches Mach 1.4 at Mission Altitude
Aviation Week reports, “NASA’s X-59 Quesst low-boom supersonic demonstrator achieved Mach 1.4 at 55,000 ft. on June 12, representing the speed and altitude planned for flights over U.S. communities to measure the public response to reduced sonic booms.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
NASA Advances Quiet Supersonic Travel as X-59 Exceeds Mach 1
Aviation News reports, “NASA’s X-59 QueSST experimental aircraft has successfully completed its first supersonic flight, marking a significant step forward in the development of quieter high-speed air travel. The aircraft exceeded the speed of sound on June 5, 2026, as part of its ongoing flight-test program in the United States.”
Full Story (Aviation News)
NASA Accelerates X-59 Flight Campaign Ahead of First Supersonic Test
Aviation Week reports, “NASA is continuing to speed up the rate of X-59 flight tests as the Quesst low-boom supersonic demonstrator program builds up to its first Mach 1 faster-than-sound milestone flight. The needle nose Lockheed Martin Skunk Works-built aircraft has so far accumulated around 19.6 flight hours on 16 flights, eight of which were completed in April.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
NASA’s X-59 Quiet Supersonic Research Aircraft Performs First Flight
Aviation Week reports, “NASA began flight tests of its needle-nosed X-59 Quesst quiet supersonic research aircraft with a 1 hr. 7 min. initial sortie from Palmdale, California, to the nearby Edwards AFB on Oct. 28. Flown by NASA X-59 lead pilot Nils Larson, the much-anticipated first flight of the Lockheed Martin-built aircraft began at 8:14 a.m. Pacific time with an unrestricted climb from Palmdale’s 12,000 ft.-long runway 07/25.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
NASA Initiates Engines Tests on Experimental X-59
Flying Magazine reports, “NASA has fired up the engine of its experimental X-59 supersonic aircraft for the first time, marking the launch of testing to ensure the powerplant and systems work together.” The “X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft is part of NASA’s Low Boom Flight Demonstration project aimed at collecting data to help shape regulations for possible future commercial supersonic flight. … The modified F414-GE-100 engine is expected to enable the aircraft to fly Mach 1.4, or around 925 mph, according to NASA.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine
NASA Shares Time-Lapse Video of X-59 QueSST Construction
The Daily Mail (UK) reports that NASA shared a time-lapse video showing construction of the X-59 QueSST aircraft at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California. The 43-second clip shows development of the fuselage and the 29.5-foot-wide wing.
Full Story (Daily Mail)
NASA Tests Navigational System for Future QueSST Demonstrations
ExecutiveGov reports that NASA “said Wednesday it tested the Airborne Location Integrating Geospatial Navigation System in preparation for future demonstrations of the Lockheed Martin-made X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology or QueSST plane.” Before 2024 demonstrations of the aircraft intended to quiet the sonic boom that occurs during supersonic flight, NASA “has to test X-59’s quietness through acoustic validation. An F-15 aircraft equipped with a shock-sensing probe will gather needed information by measuring QueSST’s shock waves.”
Full Story (ExecutiveGov)
NASA Reaches Halfway Point In Construction Of QueSST Demonstrator
Aviation International News reports that NASA now expects the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) demonstrator to make its first flight in 2022, and the agency said that construction of the demonstrator was halfway complete as of the end of 2020. NASA “said assembly of the Mach 1.4 aircraft ‘made great strides’ in 2020 as work progressed on the flight deck, wings, and other hardware. In addition, GE Aviation delivered the F414-GE-100 engine that will power the X-59 QueSST in the third quarter.” In November, the agency completed “the closing of the wing section, which NASA termed as the ‘structural backbone of the aircraft.’”
Full Story (Aviation International News)