CAPE CANAVERAL (VINnews) – NASA’s experimental X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft has completed its first year of flight testing and is making its first cross-country journey, flying from Edwards Air Force Base in California to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.​

The Lockheed Martin-built jet departed California on Oct. 28 — exactly one year after its maiden flight — with planned stops in El Paso and Fort Worth, Texas, and Birmingham, Alabama. Chase planes are accompanying the aircraft. It is scheduled for static display at NASA’s MAX POWER airshow at Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 7 and 8.​

Designed for NASA’s Quesst mission, the X-59 is intended to cruise at Mach 1.4 (about 924 mph) and 55,000 feet while producing a soft sonic “thump” of roughly 75 perceived loudness decibels — comparable to a car door closing nearby — rather than a traditional loud sonic boom. Its elongated nose shapes the shockwaves to reduce noise. The aircraft has no conventional front windshield; the pilot relies on a camera-based external vision system for forward visibility.​

The X-59 first exceeded the speed of sound on June 5, 2026. In its first year it has completed more than 40 flights, reached speeds of Mach 1.53 and altitudes above 56,000 feet. Its first flight, on Oct. 28, 2025, lasted 67 minutes at a maximum of about 230 mph and 12,000 feet as the team checked systems.​

NASA’s next phase will measure actual ground noise levels and conduct flights over communities to gauge public response. The data is intended to help regulators assess whether commercial supersonic flights over land — banned in the United States since 1973 — could resume with quieter technology.​

The aircraft was designed and built at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California. NASA test pilots, including Nils Larson and Jim “Clue” Less, have been flying the test program.