NASA Rolls Out X-59 Quesst Supersonic Flight Demonstrator Aircraft | Aviation International News

NASA Rolls Out X-59 Quiet Supersonic Demonstrator

The X-59 will fly at Mach 1.4 without a sonic boom

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits on the apron outside Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility at dawn in Palmdale, California. — NASA’s X-59 Quesst aircraft is pictured outside Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility at dawn in Palmdale, California. © Lockheed Martin Skunk Works

By Hanneke Weitering • Science & Technology Editor

January 15, 2024

NASA has finally revealed the X-59 quiet supersonic technology (Quesst) demonstrator aircraft that the agency says will pave the way for overland supersonic flight.

The X-59 was unveiled on Friday during a public ceremony at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California. Lockheed began developing the X-59 in 2016 for NASA’s low-boom flight demonstration mission, which aims to demonstrate the feasibility of quiet supersonic flight over land.

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