NASA Delays X-59 Supersonic Aircraft First Flight to Next Year | Aviation International News

NASA Delays X-59 Supersonic First Flight to Next Year

NASA continues to test integrated systems

NASA X-59 Quesst supersonic demonstrator on flight line (Photo: Lockheed Martin) — Despite the delay of the first flight to 2024, NASA's X-59 March 1.4 demonstrator has checked off several milestones. © Lockheed Martin

By Kerry Lynch • Editor, AIN monthly magazine

October 15, 2023

NASA has pushed back the first flight of its X-59 Quesst supersonic demonstrator aircraft to next year as it works through “several technical challenges identified over the course of 2023,” the agency announced late last week.

The Mach 1.4 X-59 will be used to gather data on public response to a softer thud—rather than a sonic boom—that may be possible with modern supersonic aircraft. This data could pave the way for the eventual return of supersonic flight over land.

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