NASA Reschedules X-59 Second Flight for Friday

Test campaign to move into expanded flight envelope phase.

Matt Ryan

Thursday, March 19, 2026 at 03:55 PM ET

Verified

Edited By: Zach Vasile

[Credit: NASA/Carla Thomas]

Key Takeaways:

NASA has rescheduled the second flight of its X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft to Friday, originating from Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.
This one-hour flight will continue early-stage performance evaluations and initiate "envelope expansion," gradually increasing speed and altitude.
The X-59 is integral to NASA's Quesst mission, developed with Lockheed Martin to research and reduce the noise associated with supersonic flight.

See a mistake? Contact us.

NASA has shifted the timing of the second flight of its X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft to Friday, adjusting from an earlier plan to fly Thursday. The mission will originate from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, and will include operations at nearby Edwards Air Force Base.

The flight is expected to last about one hour and will continue early-stage evaluations of the aircraft’s performance. NASA said it plans to operate the X-59 at about 230 mph at 12,000 feet before climbing to roughly 20,000 feet and accelerating to around 260 mph. The X-59 first flew in October 2025 and primarily focused on initial handling and systems checks.

With this sortie, NASA will begin a sequence of envelope expansion flights, gradually increasing speed and altitude to assess the aircraft under a broader range of conditions. The X-59 is part of NASA’s Quesst mission and was developed with Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works to study approaches for reducing the noise associated with supersonic flight.