Quiet supersonic X-59 jet soars over California in unofficial first test flight
by Steve Gorman
PALMDALE, Calif. (Reuters) – NASA’s supersonic but quiet jetliner soared over the Southern California desert on Tuesday in the first test flight of an experimental aircraft designed to break the sound barrier without noise.
Measuring just under 100 feet from nose to tail, the sleek plane took off about an hour after sunrise from the runway at Plant 42 of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, about 60 miles north of Los Angeles.
After a steep climb over grass fields just east of the runway, the plane was seen banking north toward Edwards Air Force Base, about a dozen miles away, where it was expected to land. He was escorted by a NASA chase plane.
The single-engine X-59 appeared to fly at subsonic speeds as expected during its first test flight.
A crowd of about 200 aviation workers and their families watched the takeoff from a safe distance, parked along a nearby highway.
“The X-59 successfully completed its first flight this morning,” Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Candis Roussel told Reuters in a brief email statement, hailing it as “a significant aviation milestone.” He said the company would announce details later.
A one-of-a-kind experimental aircraft, the This is twice as high and roughly 60% faster than typical airliners fly.
The aircraft’s unique shape was designed to greatly reduce the explosive-like sonic boom normally produced when an aircraft breaks the sound barrier, reducing the sound level to a muffled “sonic thud” no louder than slamming a car door.
Perfecting such low-decibel flight technology could make supersonic aircraft more amenable to commercial aviation service, especially in populated areas.
The supersonic Concorde airliner began scheduled transatlantic flights with British Airways and Air France in 1976. However, following the fatal crash in July 2000 and the September 11 attacks in 2001, the aircraft was retired in 2003 due to high operating costs, limited seating, and slow passenger numbers.
In press materials posted online last month, NASA said the X-59’s first flight “will be a low-altitude loop at approximately 240 mph (386 km/h) to check systems integration and initiate a flight test phase focused on verifying the airworthiness and safety of the aircraft.”
During subsequent test flights, the X-59 would travel higher and faster, eventually exceeding the speed of sound—about 761 mph (1,225 km/h) at sea level.
The California Manufacturers and Technology Association named the X-59 the “Greatest Thing Made in California” of 2025 at its annual statewide technology competition earlier this month.
(Reporting by David Swanson in Palmdale, Calif.; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Howard Goller)
