First Test Flight Notched For NASA X-59 The first test flight of the NASA X-59 Quesst supersonic demonstrator aircraft has been made. The first flight happened on the 28th of October, 2025. The aircraft departed Palmdale Regional Airport and flew a horse-race track type pattern for just under an hour before landing at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center. The aircraft climbed and reached a maximum altitude of approximately 12,400-feet and made speeds up to 254-knots.
If you are not aware, there is another company, Boom Supersonic with the XB-1, currently pursuing supersonic flight. They already have had their first flight with their prototype. However, unlike Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 technology demonstrator, which earlier this year achieved its first supersonic flights and was also able to achieve that supersonic flight while creating no audible sonic boom, the X-59 is going after what they describe as a "quiet thump" when supersonic. For NASA in order to understand this further in real world terms, they will actually conduct testing over particular cities in the United States. It will allow them to gather data on public perception and reaction to its "sonic thump.”. That data will be provided to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to helm them build boom-noise limits or restrictions for supersonic flight over land.
The first actual flight of the X-59 demonstrator has been a long time in the works. Lockheed Martin has been working on this project since 2016. Looking back, the first demonstrator rolled out in early 2024 and we have now had the first test flight in late October, 2025. This type of research and development can be painstaking slow especially when it involves returning to supersonic flight but also permitting it over land. Commercially there has not been a vehicle that flew above the speed of sound since the Concorde ceased operations at the end of 2003.
There has not been alot of details regarding the first flight though as this appears to have been affected by the current Shut Down of the United States Government and NASA is a part of that. Lockheed Martin did however, publish a press release. "We are thrilled to achieve the first flight of the X-59," said OJ Sanchez, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. "This aircraft is a testament to the innovation and expertise of our joint team, and we are proud to be at the forefront of quiet supersonic technology development." For more information: Lockheed Martin Corporation 6801 Rockledge Dr Bethesda, MD www.lockheedmartin.com ***
