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NASA’s X-59 Reaches Supersonic Speed

The flight advances tests that will show whether the aircraft’s shape can turn a loud sonic boom into a much quieter 'thump' for regulators to evaluate.

NASA
X-59 breaks the sound barrier for the first time.
NASA is testing the X-59, an experimental plane that was designed to exceed the speed of sound without a loud sonic boom.

Overview

  • The X-59 flew faster than sound on Friday, June 5, 2026, reaching about Mach 1.1 at 43,400 feet during an 81-minute test from Edwards Air Force Base.
  • A NASA F-15 chase plane flew alongside the X-59 and its sonic booms drowned out the X-59’s noise, leaving acoustic data from that flight unusable.
  • NASA says a mission-conditions flight to roughly Mach 1.4 at about 55,000 feet will take place in days and that those speeds and altitudes match planned community overflights.
  • Engineers built the X-59 with a long tapered nose, a top-mounted engine and an external vision system to reshape shock waves so a boom becomes a quieter 'thump'.
  • After mission-condition runs the program will move to acoustic validation and public overflights to gather perceptual and measurement data that NASA and regulators will use to consider changing rules on supersonic flight over land.