Overview
- The X-59 flew supersonic for the first time on June 5, 2026, reaching about Mach 1.1 at roughly 43,400 feet during an 81-minute test from Edwards Air Force Base.
- NASA test pilot Jim “Clue” Less piloted the flight as the program continues envelope-expansion testing that has included 16 flights in the past 90 days.
- A NASA F-15 chase plane produced louder sonic booms during the sortie that obscured any sound from the X-59, so ground acoustic measurements were not obtained on that flight.
- The X-59 uses a long tapered nose, a top-mounted engine and a camera-based eXternal Vision System to reshape shock waves and aim to replace a loud sonic boom with a much quieter “thump.”
- NASA plans a near-term mission-condition run at about Mach 1.4 and then an acoustic-validation phase with community overflights aimed at collecting perception data for regulators and completing validation by the end of 2026.