NASA’s X-59 QueSST flew sooner than the velocity of sound for the primary time, increasing into the supersonic portion of its flight envelope.
NASA’s experimental X-59 QueSST (Quiet SuperSonic Know-how) carried out its first supersonic flight on June 5, 2026, reaching a high velocity of roughly Mach 1.1 (713 mph) and altitude of 43,400 toes. The milestone arrived because the plane continues to increase its flight envelope following the primary flight in October 2025.
Going Supersonic
For this check flight, the plane was piloted by NASA check pilot Jim “Clue” Much less. Much less took off from Edwards Air Drive Base, California, at 11:08 a.m. PDT, touchdown once more after 81 minutes with new information on flying qualities at each subsonic after which supersonic speeds.
The 1st step: break the sound barrier.✔️
The X-59 has formally flown at supersonic speeds for the primary time, marking a significant step ahead on the trail to quieting the sonic growth. Even sooner and quieter flights are coming quickly. pic.twitter.com/Ngia5oHXNn
— Lockheed Martin (@LockheedMartin) June 5, 2026
Through the flight, the X-59 was supported by a NASA F-15 as security chase plane. The company mentioned “the loud sonic booms from the F-15 obscured any sound made by the X-59,” which has been designed to create “solely a quiet thump as an alternative of a loud sonic growth” whereas flying at supersonic velocity.
”X-59 is preparing for its quiet supersonic debut,” mentioned NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “For the reason that plane’s first flight on Oct. 28, 2025, the crew has made great progress, flying 16 instances within the final 90 days and stepping into a gentle check rhythm. Within the coming days, we count on to take the subsequent step and push to Mach 1.4.”
✈️ JUST IN: The X-59 has gone supersonic!
The X-59 achieved supersonic speeds for the primary time ever at the moment — a significant milestone for NASA’s Quesst mission and an necessary step towards upcoming flights that can display its quiet supersonic expertise forward of future… pic.twitter.com/mwblICs4vN
— NASA Aeronautics (@NASAaero) June 5, 2026
Within the press launch, NASA mentioned this new milestone can be reached “in simply days,” and it is going to be “much more crucial to the mission.” In actual fact, this has been outlined as a “mission situations” flight, reaching a cruising velocity of Mach 1.4 (925 mph) and altitude of roughly 55,000 toes.
These are the identical situations that can be used through the X-59 over a number of communities to assemble information about how folks could understand its quiet thump. The information can be used to assist regulators set up new noise requirements in an effort to allow supersonic industrial flight over land.
Envelope Enlargement
Within the final months, following the primary flight on Oct. 28, 2025, the X-59 carried out a sequence of flight to increase the flight envelope, which noticed the plane flying at a variety of speeds and altitudes. NASA says the primary part of the X-59’s flight testing is devoted to the envelope enlargement, and upon completion it is going to transfer to the acoustic validation centered on the sound profile, aiming to finish it by the top of 2026.
Different elements which can be being checked out are the efficiency of its controls, hundreds and structural dynamics, and subsystems together with hydraulics, gas, avionics, touchdown gear, among the many others. NASA moreover mentioned it’s monitoring the efficiency of the eXternal Imaginative and prescient System, the system of cameras which changed the standard ahead windscreen due to the X-59’s lengthy nostril.
NASA additionally described a number of the X-59’s maneuvers throughout its first block of check flights:
A rollercoaster maneuver includes a sequence of pitching the plane up and down to raised perceive aerodynamic forces and characterize stability and management.
A financial institution‑to‑financial institution maneuver is when an plane gently rolls from one facet to the opposite, akin to tipping its wings proper, then easily rolling again by way of degree and over to the left.
A flutter excitation maneuver introduces deliberate vibrations into the plane’s construction throughout flight to make sure the plane’s flutter boundaries are effectively understood and that its construction maintains secure margins throughout the flight envelope.
A wings-level push maneuver is a managed, wings-level pitch-down motion used to guage the plane’s longitudinal stability, pitch response, and trim traits at a given check situation.
A gear-extend maneuver contains extending the plane’s touchdown gear at a managed airspeed and configuration so engineers can measure the aerodynamic, structural, and dealing with qualities of the gear deployment, which might trigger sudden adjustments in drag, pitch, vibration, and airflow. The touchdown gear retraction was examined as a part of X-59’s first block of envelope enlargement check flights.
The X-59
The X-59 Quesst (Quiet SuperSonic Know-how) is an experimental supersonic plane developed at Skunk Works for NASA’s Low-Increase Flight Demonstrator venture. The applied sciences used on the jet are supposed to affect future generations of quiet supersonic plane as a part of the trouble to reintroduce supersonic industrial flight.
The X-59 is, in actual fact, designed to generate a quieter sonic growth which must be inside acceptable noise ranges to assist the FAA to elevate the ban on industrial supersonic journey over land imposed in 1973. Based on NASA, the sonic growth generated by the brand new plane can be lower than 75 perceived dB on the bottom, a few third lower than the Concorde, which was reported round 100-110 dB.
A key characteristic of the plane which is able to enable to realize this aim is the lengthy tapered nostril, which accounts for nearly a 3rd of the X-59’s size. The nostril is designed to interrupt up the shock waves that will ordinarily end in a supersonic plane inflicting a sonic growth.
Attributable to this configuration, the cockpit is positioned nearly midway down the size of the plane, an answer which nevertheless doesn’t enable the presence of a conventional windshield. As a substitute, NASA developed the eXternal Imaginative and prescient System, a sequence of high-resolution cameras feeding a 4K monitor within the cockpit.
The X-59 is powered by a F414-GE-100 engine with 22,000 kilos of thrust, modified from the F414 utilized by the F/A-18 Tremendous Hornet. The engine is unusually positioned on high of the plane to offer it a easy underside, which helps hold shockwaves from merging behind the plane and inflicting a sonic growth.
The X‑59 is provided with a number of techniques designed particularly to guard the pilot, together with a life assist system to ship oxygen to the pilot whereas additionally powering the g‑swimsuit. As one other security layer, the plane options an ejection seat and cover tailored from a U.S. Air Drive T‑38 coach, outfitted with necessities akin to a primary support equipment, radio, and water.
