The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quiet Supersonic Technology program, known as QueSST, launched in 2016 with a narrowly defined but ambitious goal: prove that an aircraft can exceed Mach 1 without producing the explosive sonic boom that forced governments to ban overland supersonic flight in the 1970s.
If that proof holds, the consequences extend far beyond NASA or Lockheed Martin. Aviation regulators around the world would be forced to reconsider decades-old restrictions that currently make supersonic passenger travel commercially impossible over populated regions.
In other words, the X-59 is not designed to become a commercial aircraft. It is designed to make commercial aircraft legal again.
Why These New Images Matter
The newly released photographs show the X-59 flying within close proximity of the F/A-18 Hornet, a configuration used during early test phases to calibrate airspeed, altitude, and performance sensors while maintaining a human safety check in the air.
According to NASA, the aircraft flew at subsonic speeds during its initial test missions, reaching roughly 230 miles per hour at an altitude of 12,000 feet. The landing gear remained deployed, a standard precaution for experimental first flights.
What makes this phase notable is proximity. At times, the two aircraft flew within a wingspan of each other to cross-check instrumentation. This level of formation flying is not about spectacle. It is about precision.
Once calibration is complete, NASA says future flights will maintain greater separation, typically around 500 feet, as the program moves toward higher-speed testing.
