NASA’s experimental supersonic aircraft, the X-59, has left Edwards Air Force Base in California for the first time since beginning its flight-testing programme. The journey took place on Wednesday, exactly one year after the aircraft’s maiden flight, marking a new milestone in its development.
Built by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, the X-59 is designed to demonstrate how aircraft can fly faster than the speed of sound without producing the traditional loud sonic boom. Its long, slender nose and specially shaped fuselage are engineered to prevent shock waves from merging into a powerful boom, instead producing a much quieter sound described as a soft thump.
NASA is targeting a noise level below 75 decibels, significantly quieter than the estimated 100–110 decibels associated with Concorde’s sonic boom. Civilian supersonic flight over land in the United States has been restricted since 1973 because of the noise impact.
During its first year, the X-59 completed 40 additional flights after its maiden journey. It achieved its first supersonic flight on June 5, 2026, and reached Mach 1.53, approximately 1,010 mph, at an altitude above 56,000 feet in September. The aircraft has also successfully flown a planned mission profile of Mach 1.4 at 55,000 feet.
The aircraft has now departed its California test range, making stops in El Paso, Texas, Fort Worth, Texas, and Birmingham, Alabama, before continuing towards NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It is expected to appear at NASA’s air show on November 7 and 8.
The next major phase of the programme will involve flying the X-59 over selected American communities to measure how people on the ground perceive its quieter sonic signature. NASA plans to share the collected data with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and international regulators to support discussions about future supersonic flight regulations.
If the aircraft demonstrates that supersonic travel can take place without disruptive sonic booms, the findings could help pave the way for changes to the long-standing restrictions and potentially make commercial supersonic passenger flights over land possible again.