NASA X-59 flies supersonic for first time as quiet supersonic aircraft moves toward mission-condition testing [VIDEO]

NASA test pilot Jim “Clue” Less took off and landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The aircraft reached a top speed of about Mach 1.1, or 713 mph, and an altitude of 43,400 feet.

The X-59 flight began at 11:08 a.m. PDT and lasted 81 minutes. NASA said the team focused on flying qualities at both subsonic and supersonic speeds.

”X-59 is getting ready for its quiet supersonic debut. Since the aircraft’s first flight on Oct. 28, 2025, the team has made tremendous progress, flying 16 times in the last 90 days and getting into a steady test rhythm. In the coming days, we expect to take the next step and push to Mach 1.4,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman “I’m grateful to the NASA team and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works for their help getting us to this point, and I hope this is the first of many collaborations as we rebuild NASA’s X-plane portfolio.”

The X-59 is designed to fly at supersonic speeds while producing only a quiet thump rather than a loud sonic boom. During the flight, a NASA F-15 chase plane flew nearby to monitor the X-59.

NASA said the loud sonic booms from the F-15 obscured any sound produced by the X-59. The aircraft is expected to make its first “mission conditions” flight in the coming days.

“The X-59’s first supersonic flight is a testament to America’s enduring leadership in science, engineering, and aerospace innovation,” said Michael Kratsios, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. “This achievement comes as the Trump Administration continues work to unleash supersonic flight and enable American ingenuity.”

The upcoming mission-conditions flight is expected to take the aircraft to a cruising speed of Mach 1.4, or 925 mph. NASA said the X-59 is also expected to reach an altitude of about 55,000 feet and will again be accompanied by a chase plane.

Those speed and altitude conditions will form the baseline for future X-59 flights over several U.S. communities. NASA plans to use those flights to gather data on how people perceive the aircraft’s quiet thump.

NASA said it will share the data with U.S. and international regulators. The goal is to support new data-driven noise standards that could enable a future market for supersonic commercial flight over land.

For the past several months, the X-59 has been conducting flights across a wide range of speeds and altitudes in a process known as envelope expansion. These tests make up the first phase of the aircraft’s flight testing and focus on performance with chase plane monitoring.

After completing this phase, the X-59 will move into another phase focused on its sound profile. NASA said that phase will verify the aircraft’s quiet thump capability.

The X-59 is the centrepiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which aims to demonstrate quiet supersonic flight. The mission is intended to help enable commercial supersonic flight over land worldwide.

NASA said the advances could help travellers reach destinations faster and spend less time in the air. Through Quesst, NASA also plans to deliver design tools and technology for quiet supersonic airliners.

Those tools are intended to help future aircraft achieve high speeds sought by commercial operators without disturbing people on the ground. NASA said it will validate the design tools through ground and flight testing, giving U.S. aircraft manufacturers the ability to explore new quiet supersonic concepts and confidence that future designs can meet quiet flight requirements.