NASA, Lockheed Martin Unveil Finished X-59

On Friday, NASA and Lockheed Martin displayed the X-59 QueSST (Quiet SuperSonic Technology), the agency’s latest X aircraft designed to break the sound barrier without generating a sonic boom. The aircraft was shown off at a ceremony hosted by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works at its Palmdale, California, research facility. 

According to NASA, the X-59 QueSST is integral to its Low Boom Flight Demonstration project, which gathers data for informing regulations on potential commercial supersonic flight over land. The initiative comes five decades after the FAA banned such flights due to the disruptive noise caused by sonic booms.

NASA says the aircraft is expected to fly at 1.4 times the speed of sound, or 925 mph. Because of its shape and technological innovations (the aircraft is 99.7 feet long and 29.5 feet wide), NASA expects quiet supersonic flight to be possible. “In just a few short years we’ve gone from an ambitious concept to reality. NASA’s X-59 will help change the way we travel, bringing us closer together in much less time,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy in a press release. NASA says the X-59 QueSST is set to make its first flight later this year.