WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) – NASA wants to take its supersonic aircraft “X-59” into the air more often in the future. After a first test flight in October 2025, the jet now completed two more test flights in quick succession, as the US space agency Nasa announced. “We are getting back into a test flight rhythm,” said Nasa boss Jared Isaacman, who had also ordered flights to be scheduled more closely for the “Artemis” lunar program. The next test flights are already planned.
At the beginning of 2024, NASA presented the supersonic aircraft “X-59”, developed and built together with the defense company Lockheed Martin, to the public for the first time. The jet, which is around 30 meters long and has a pointed front with a wingspan of around ten meters, is the heart of the NASA mission “Quesst” (Quiet SuperSonic Technology).
Supersonic without a bang
The special thing about the “X-59”: The machine is supposed to fly without a supersonic noise. When flying supersonic, the airspeed is greater than the speed of sound in the area around the aircraft. If an aircraft breaks the sound barrier in the air, there is a permanent, very loud bang. As long as the aircraft flies at supersonic speeds, certain sound waves are created that travel along its route at the same speed as the aircraft and can be heard.
Instead of a loud bang, the “X-59” is supposed to produce a sound as loud as a car door slamming. Lockheed Martin received around $250 million from NASA to develop the aircraft.
The last time there were regular supersonic flights was around 20 years ago with the legendary Concorde between Paris, London and New York. After an accident in Paris with more than 100 deaths in 2000, operations were stopped in 2003 due to high losses. In addition to NASA and Lockheed Martin, other companies are working on a return of supersonic jets. Recently, for example, a test machine from the US company Boom Supersonic exceeded the speed of sound./cah/DP/zb
