NASA has revealed more information about the first successful test flight of its new supersonic X-59 aircraft that took place on 28 October 2025.
Designed to fly at supersonic speeds yet keep sonic booms to a minimum, the X-59 research craft took off from a US Air Force base in Palmdale, California, operating for the purposes of tests at less than the speed of sound at 230 mph and reaching a maximum altitude of about 12,000 feet, before heading north, circling, and landing at Edwards Air Force Base.
“In this industry, there’s nothing like a first flight,” said Brad Flick, director of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center. “But there’s no recipe for how to fly an X-plane. You’ve got to figure it out, and adapt, and do the right thing, and make the right decisions.”
So, what’s different about the X-59? First, it is the result of far-reaching computer simulations and a series of wind tunnel tests that have enabled developers to modify its shape, giving it a long, spear-like nose that helps to deflect different shockwaves when flying at supersonic speeds. The change means the shockwaves no longer coincide, so no boom is produced. It also means the extra-deep cockpit must be operated through high-res cameras and monitors.
Having safely passed the tests and landed at Edwards, the plane will now continue its life, graduating from tests to flight operations at the Armstrong Center. The event was marked by acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, who said, “Once again, NASA and America are leading the way for the future of flight.” He described the X-59 as “the first of its kind, and a major breakthrough in America’s push toward commercial air travel that’s both quiet and faster than ever before.” He also said the X-59 team’s “innovation and hard work” were “revolutionizing air travel.”
NASA and @LockheedMartin’s X-59 recently lifted off for the first time – reaching a major step towards quiet supersonic flight to the United States.
— NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy (@SecDuffyNASA) November 19, 2025
Catch some of the moments of this breakthrough flight. ⬇️🇺🇸✈️ pic.twitter.com/KbdXrIbImU
The X-59 is the lynchpin in NASA’s Quest mission “to make commercial supersonic air travel over land possible for everyone.” Their research and development aim to demonstrate the “technology to fly supersonic, or faster than the speed of sound, without generating loud sonic booms.” The agency’s work on the project also includes surveying how people on the ground respond when the X-59 flies overhead at supersonic speeds – something banned in civil aviation since 1973 until a recent executive order made test flights possible again.
NASA has pressed home the link between its heritage as an innovator and the X-59, saying the plane grew from NASA’s “roots of flying bold, experimental aircraft.” The aircraft is, according to Bob Pearce, NASA associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, “the first major, piloted X-plane NASA has built and flown in over 20 years – a unique, purpose-built aircraft.” He hailed it as “a validation of what NASA Aeronautics exists to do, which is to envision the future of flight and deliver it in ways that serve U.S. aviation and the public.”
