NASA's X-59 Reaches Speed and Altitude Milestones Ahead of First Quiet Supersonic Flights
The aircraft reached 55,000 feet and Mach 1.4 as NASA prepares acoustic tests that could support new rules for supersonic flight over land.
- On Friday, NASA's X-59 research plane reached Mach 1.4, or about 924 mph, at an altitude of 55,000 feet, marking a critical step toward future missions over populated areas.
- The aircraft previously broke the sound barrier on June 5, reaching a top speed of 713 mph over California's Mojave Desert at Mach 1.1, demonstrating its capability to exceed supersonic speeds safely.
- NASA utilizes a NASA F-15 research aircraft to accompany the X-59, obscuring noise while engineers measure its supersonic acoustic signature to confirm it produces a "quiet sonic thump" rather than a boom.
- The Quesst mission will soon see the X-59 fly over US communities to gather public feedback on its noise profile, which NASA officials stated "was an even more critical step" toward operational validation.
- Data from these tests will help establish new noise standards for commercial supersonic travel, with Lockheed Martin having developed the X-59 nearly a decade ago to enable quieter operations over land.
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NASA's X-59 experimental supersonic aircraft flew for the first time at the speed of Mach 1.1 without generating sonic stampedes.
A Mach 1.4 as the one who does not want the thing – NASA A few days ago the X-59 Quest, NASA's silent supersonic plane reached a speed of Mach 1.4, slightly less than 1,500 kilometers per hour, at an altitude of 55,000 feet, about 16.7 kilometers. Those are the cruise flight parameters for which it has been designed and to which the overflight tests of populations will be carried out to verify how quiet it really is. Mach 1.412 to 55.
Only a few days after passing the sound wall, the experimental aircraft X-59 of the Nasa passed at a higher speed. By reaching Mach 1.4 on June 12, 2026, the aircraft just validated the actual flight conditions of its future mission: proving that a supersonic flight can be performed in complete discretion.
NASA X-59 reaches Mach 1.4 and 55,000 feet as testing advances toward future quiet supersonic community flights
Mach 1.4 is about 924 mph. The milestone came days after the X-59’s first supersonic flight, which showed the aircraft performed as expected at Mach 1.1. NASA said the June 12 mission conditions flight was an even more critical step for the program. The X-59 still has months of performance testing ahead before it begins its next major mission phase. The aircraft’s team has been steadily expanding its flight envelope. The work includes evaluating…
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