“NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) experimental supersonic aircraft took to the skies for the first time on October 28, 2025 from Lockheed Martin’s famously secret Skunk Works at the US Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California…
Today, there are hopes of reviving supersonic travel on a large scale, with a number of companies across the world working on a new generation of Mach+ transports. To encourage this effort, NASA has been working with Lockheed Martin on the X-59, which is a technological demonstrator prototype designed to find ways to make 21st century supersonic flight feasible – and quieter.
The primary function of the single-seater X-59 is to test a new fuselage geometry that mitigates the sonic boom. It does this by shaping the flow of air from the nose and over the hull and wings so that instead of concentrating at the nose, the wave breaks up and spreads out along the aircraft, which also redirects the wave upwards. The result is that the sonic boom becomes a sonic thump of 60 dB to 80 dB, or about that of a car door closing for those on the ground.
This will not only help to make supersonic airliners play nice with others, it will also help to rewrite regulations. To that end, in future stages, the X-59 will fly over communities in a special supersonic air corridor to gather public opinion about the results.
The maiden flight that ended with a landing near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California only reached subsonic speeds because it was only intended to show the aircraft’s flightworthiness. In later tests, NASA plans to push the envelope until it goes past the speed of sound, after which the heavy work of the program can begin.”
From New Atlas.