LISTEN: Supersonic X-59 Nears First Flight

At one point, the Franco-British Concorde provided commercial supersonic air travel. But factors including noise, expense and a fatal crash ultimately led to the aircraft’s retirement in 2003.

The historic plane could move faster than Mach 2 and once traveled from New York City to London in under three hours. Its capabilities still intrigue the aerospace industry today, and NASA and Lockheed Martin are looking to make supersonic flight over land possible once again.

Building on the X-1, the first plane to fly faster than the speed of sound back in 1947, NASA and Lockheed Martin have been constructing the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (Quesst) aircraft since 2018. 

Earlier this month, the agency released photos of the X-59 near a runway at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, indicating the aircraft has moved from its construction site and is nearing its first flight.