X-59

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Experimental supersonic research aircraft (X-plane)

• Cruise Speed

  Mach 1.42 (approx. 937 mph / 1,510 km/h)

• Vision Systems

  NASA External Vision System (XVS) and Collins Aerospace EVS-3600

• Cruise Altitude

  55,000 feet (16,800 meters)

• Lead Contractor

  Lockheed Martin Skunk Works

• Operating Agency

  NASA

• Mission / Program

  Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator (Quesst Mission)

• Perceived Ground Noise Level

  75 EPNdB (Effective Perceived Noise Level in Decibels)

Timeline

• Preliminary design begins for the X-59 under NASA's Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator project. (Source: Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst - Wikipedia)

  2016-02-01

• Collins Aerospace is selected to supply Pro Line Fusion Cockpit avionics and Enhanced Flight Vision System (EVS). (Source: Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst - Wikipedia)

  2019-01-01

• Lockheed Martin releases footage of the assembled X-59 rolling out of the hangar. (Source: Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst - Wikipedia)

  2023-08-04

• Lockheed Martin and NASA officially unveil the X-59 aircraft. (Source: Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst - Wikipedia)

  2024-01-12

• The X-59 conducts its first engine tests in preparation for flight testing. (Source: Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst - Wikipedia)

  2024-11-01

• Ground testing begins with self-powered taxi tests of the X-59. (Source: Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst - Wikipedia)

  2025-07-17

• Ground instrumentation is tested using an F-15B chase aircraft. (Source: Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst - Wikipedia)

  2025-07-25

• The X-59 successfully completes its 67-minute maiden flight, flying above Palmdale and Edwards, California. (Source: NASA's X-59 Completes First Flight, Prepares for More Flight Testing - NASA)

  2025-10-28

• The X-59 completes its 25th test flight over the Mojave Desert, advancing toward acoustic validation testing. (Source: NASA's X-59 Aircraft Builds Momentum Through 25th Flight - NASA)

  2026-08-18

Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst

The Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst ("Quiet SuperSonic Technology"), sometimes styled QueSST, is an American experimental supersonic aircraft under development by Lockheed Martin for NASA's Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator project, evaluating the possibility of supersonic flight without the drawback of loud sonic booms. Preliminary design started in February 2016, with the X-59 originally planned to begin flight testing in 2021. After repeated delays, it began flight testing in late October 2025. It is expected to cruise at Mach 1.42 (1,510 km/h; 937 mph) at an altitude of 55,000 ft (16,800 m). It is designed to create only a low 75 effective perceived noise level (EPNdB) thump in order to re-evaluate the viability of supersonic transport, since their extremely loud sonic booms were one of the main reasons previous supersonic aircraft such as the Concorde were retired.

Web Search Results

• X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology X-Plane

  the globe. The X-59 is an experimental supersonic aircraft shaped to reduce the loudness of a sonic boom reaching the ground to that of a gentle thump. The X-plane accomplishes this by tailoring the volume and lift distribution to separate the shocks and expansions associated with supersonic flight. The resulting supersonic “heartbeat” is dramatically quieter than the disruptive N-wave boom generated by today’s supersonic aircraft. We look forward to supporting NASA in the effort to obtain the data regulators will need to make informed decisions on appropriate sonic boom levels in the quest to remove the prohibition on supersonic over land flight. [...] Silencing the Sonic Boom X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology X-Plane SUPPORTING NASA’S MISSION TO SILENCE THE SONIC BOOM For more than a decade, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® and NASA have partnered to solve one of the most persistent challenges of supersonic flight – the sonic boom. Lockheed Martin Skunk Works is leading the design, build and flight test of the X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology X-plane demonstrator. The technology demonstrator will be flown over populated areas to provide U.S. and international regulators with statistically valid data required to help approve new rules that could allow quiet commercial supersonic flight over land, which could bring us one step closer to quiet supersonic travel for passengers around the globe. The X-59 is an experimental supersonic aircraft

• Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst - Wikipedia

  The Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst ("Quiet SuperSonic Technology"), sometimes styled QueSST, is an American experimental supersonic aircraft under development by Lockheed Martin for NASA's Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator project, evaluating the possibility of supersonic flight without the drawback of loud sonic booms. Preliminary design started in February 2016, with the X-59 originally planned to begin flight testing in 2021. After repeated delays, it began flight testing in late October 2025. [...] The flush cockpit means that the long and pointed nose-cone will obstruct all forward vision. The X-59 uses an enhanced flight vision system (EVS), consisting of a forward 4K camera with a 33° by 19° angle of view, which compensates for the lack of forward visibility. In January 2019, RTX Corporation subsidiary Collins Aerospace was selected to supply its Pro Line Fusion Cockpit avionics, displaying[clarification needed] the boom on the ground, and EVS with long-wave infrared sensors. The Collins EVS-3600 multispectral imaging system, beneath the nose, is used for landing, while the NASA external vision system (XVS), in front of the cockpit, gives a forward view. ## See also [edit] Boom XB-1 Quiet Spike Gulfstream X-54 Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration Related lists [...] Lockheed Martin released a video showing an assembled X-59 rolling out of a hangar on August 4, 2023. The corporation unveiled the X-59 on January 12, 2024. In November 2024, the X-59's engine was tested for the first time, with plans for the aircraft's first flight to take place in 2025. Testing of the craft and ground equipment began with a self-powered taxi on July 17, 2025, and a test of the ground instruments using an F-15B on July 25, 2025, with plans to continue ground testing over the following weeks.

• NASA's X-59 Completes First Flight, Prepares for More Flight Testing - NASA

  “The X-59 is the first major, piloted X-plane NASA has built and flown in over 20 years – a unique, purpose-built aircraft,” said Bob Pearce, NASA associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. “This aircraft represents a validation of what NASA Aeronautics exists to do, which is to envision the future of flight and deliver it in ways that serve U.S. aviation and the public.” NASA Armstrong has a long history of flying X-planes that pushed the edges of flight. In 1947, the X-1 broke the sound barrier. More than a decade later, the X-15 pushed speed and altitude to new extremes. Starting in the 1960s, the X-24 shaped how we understand re-entry from space, and in the 1980s the X-29 tested forward-swept wings that challenged aerodynamic limits. [...] The X-59, designed to fly at supersonic speeds and reduce the sound of loud sonic booms to quieter sonic thumps, took off at 11:14 a.m. EDT and flew for 67 minutes. The flight represents a major step toward quiet supersonic flight over land. “Once again, NASA and America are leading the way for the future of flight,” said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy. “The X-59 is the first of its kind, and a major breakthrough in America’s push toward commercial air travel that’s both quiet and faster than ever before. Thanks to the X-59 team’s innovation and hard work, we’re revolutionizing air travel. This machine is a prime example of the kind of ingenuity and dedication America produces.” [...] NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft flies above Palmdale and Edwards, California, on its first flight Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. The aircraft traveled to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, where it will begin flight testing for NASA’s Quesst mission, which aims to demonstrate quiet supersonic flight over land. NASA/Jim Ross Historic flight The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission and its first flight connects with the agency’s roots of flying bold, experimental aircraft.

• NASA’s X-59 Aircraft Builds Momentum Through 25th Flight - NASA

  The X-59 is a revolutionary design, shaped so that when it flies faster than the speed of sound it will make just a quiet thump instead of a loud sonic boom. That required extensive modeling and design before construction began. Now that the aircraft is undergoing flight testing, one of the tools the X-59 team uses for monitoring progress is a “real-time digital twin,” which compares flight data to simulated predictions. So far, the X-59’s real-world flight characteristics — how it moves through the air and responds to the forces acting on it — matches simulations closely. Some examples of agreement between flight data and the team’s predictions include: [...] # NASA’s X-59 Aircraft Builds Momentum Through 25th Flight NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft flies above the Mojave Desert in California on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. Each flight provides the team with data to evaluate the aircraft’s performance, validate models and predictions, and strengthen confidence in how the aircraft performs. NASA/Jim Ross After 25 test flights, NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic experimental aircraft steadily continues to pass performance marks set by its team. This successful run of tests has the aircraft on a path toward a new phase later this year, where NASA will evaluate the sonic thumps the X-59 is designed to make when flying faster than the speed of sound. [...] During the upcoming acoustic validation phase of testing, the team will fly the X-59 while using a variety of ground- and air-based tools to measure and characterize its sonic thumps. “Acoustic validation will put the tools and methods used to design the X-59 to the test — tools that could ultimately become part of the DNA of every future commercial supersonic aircraft,” Cliatt said. “It will be a complex and demanding flight campaign focused on demonstrating that the X-59 can produce the quiet sonic thump it was designed to achieve.” The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission to help enable commercial supersonic flight over land. Continue following the X-59’s progress on the Quesst blog and track the aircraft using NASA’s flight tracker. Robert Margetta

• X-59: NASA’s Quesst for Quiet Supersonic Flight

  testing. But even with computer simulations and small unmanned aircraft proving to be powerful tools in the development of new aircraft, researchers understand that there is still a need for the development of fullscale piloted X-planes to help close gaps in our understanding of aeronautic principles. The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works team contracted by NASA has built a new fullscale X-plane called the X-59. This new mission called Quesst has two goals. First, design and build a unique shape that will reduce the loudness of a sonic boom reaching the ground to that of the sound of a closing car door. [ car door closing ] And second, once built and tested, fly over a number of US communities to gather data on human responses to the sound generated during supersonic flight [...] as Xplanes. X-planes are a series of United States aircraft and rockets used to test and evaluate new technologies and aerodynamic concepts. The X designator denotes the unique experimental research mission. For decades, these unique aircraft flew around California's high desert, pushing the envelope of flight mechanics and providing a solid foundation for our understanding of aeronautic principles to help solve major aviation challenges. X-planes and other prototype air vehicles hold a special place. They're a glimpse into the future of what supersonic aircraft and spacecraft may become. Over the last seven decades, they have been a proving ground for developments, including delta wings, tailless aircraft, and supersonic flight. Vehicles that [...] requirements of a good airplane. It can take off and land. It's efficient at cruise. It performs well. So within a few years we went from this is really hard to hey we could really do this. So that was very exciting that in that in that time period that exciting work has led to the X-59 design. This aircraft is being purpose-built to literally shape the noise to reduce the loud boom to the sound of a quieter thump. With its unique design, including a long pointed nose and sharply swept wings, engineers and researchers believe they have a chance at beating the boom at its own game. Specific design choices would ensure the pressure waves created by the plane weaken and do not merge, preventing a traditional sonic boom. So the X-59 is essentially like a supersonic