NASA’s X-59 Quiet Supersonic Aircraft Moves One Step Closer to Passenger Flights

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft with a flight time from New York to London of 1.5 hours is one step closer to becoming reality. The X-59 has been moved to the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works facility in Palmdale California for a brand-new paint job.

Once painted it will undergo final measurements of weight and other parameters to improve computer modeling. The X-59 supersonic passenger aircraft has been under development since 2016 and began flight testing in 2023.

The supersonic passenger plane will fly faster than the speed of sound at almost twice the speed of the famous Concorde. For an aircraft flying over land faster than the speed of sound, sonic booms are a major problem. Engineers at NASA has been working on ways to reduce the sonic boom to a sonic thump a less loud and more acceptable boom that will minimize disruptions on the ground.

Once acquired by major airlines, the X-59 will see service on about fifty established transoceanic routes that connect cities around the world. One of those routes is the famous New York to London corridor that the X-59 will traverse at four times faster than anything currently in operation.