In December 2024, Lockheed Martin and NASA tested maximum afterburner thrust for the first time with the X-59. © Lockheed Martin/Garry Tice
Ground tests of the X-59 QueSST supersonic experimental aircraft are progressing. For the first time, engineers operated the engine of this unique aircraft at maximum thrust. After several years of delay, the first flight tests should take place in the coming months.
NASA’s X-59 supersonic experimental aircraft is currently undergoing intensive ground testing. On December 12, 2024, in Palmdale, in the US state of California, NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers operated the X-59’s F414-GE-100 engine on the ground at full power for the first time, with afterburner.
The X-59 QueSST, built by Skunk Works, Lockheed Martin’s innovation center, should help discover how to significantly reduce the supersonic boom of aircraft thanks to its particular shape and extremely long front section. Initially planned for 2021, the program is suffering a delay of several years. Ground tests on the engine constitute an important step before considering flight tests. The first flight of the QueSST is expected to take place this year.
The first flight will take place from Palmdale Airport, but the landing will take place at Edwards Air Force Base, located approximately 50 kilometers to the north, where the X-59 will remain stationed during its flight test campaign .
The X-59 is designed to fly at a cruising altitude of 55,000 feet (16,764 meters) at a speed of 1,500 km/h. According to NASA and Lockheed Martin, the supersonic boom of the X-59, perceptible on the ground, should not be louder than the closing of a car door, which corresponds to a volume of 75 PLdB (Perceived Level dB ).
With the X-59, NASA intends to collect data on how the noise from these flights is perceived by the population. This data will then be incorporated into future legislation aimed at allowing supersonic passenger flights over land.
