Overview
- Test pilot Nils Larson flew the single-seat X-59 for about an hour after dawn over the southern California desert, reaching roughly 12,000 feet and about 370 km/h.
- The flight lifted off from Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works in Palmdale and concluded near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base.
- Engineers used the sortie to validate structures and systems, recording about 60 onboard data streams spanning more than 20,000 parameters.
- Built by Lockheed Martin for NASA as a research platform, the aircraft is designed to turn a traditional sonic boom into a quieter “soft thump.”
- NASA plans a multiyear campaign with higher-speed and supersonic trials plus community overflights, sharing results with the FAA and international regulators after investing more than $518 million since 2018.