NASA X-59 Breaks Sound Barrier in First Supersonic Test Flight
The experimental aircraft reached Mach 1.1 during an 81-minute flight at Edwards Air Force Base. NASA said the milestone advances efforts to develop quieter supersonic travel.
nypost.comNASA’s experimental X-59 aircraft broke the sound barrier for the first time during an 81-minute test flight on Friday, June 5, at California’s Edwards Air Force Base. 1, or about 713 mph, at an altitude of 43,400 feet. Test pilot Jim “Clue” Less said the transition produced no physical sensation.
“You know you are supersonic when gauges say you are supersonic. I didn’t feel anything,” he said. ” Cathy Bahm, project manager for NASA’s Low Boom Flight Demonstrator, called the flight a major milestone.
“Completing the first mission-conditions flight is especially meaningful — it’s the moment where we begin validating the aircraft in the environment it was designed for,” she said. The X-59 has completed dozens of increasingly challenging tests since its maiden flight in October 2025. NASA plans to continue testing with a mix of subsonic and lower-altitude flights.
It has no forward-facing cockpit windows; the pilot uses the eXternal Vision System of high-definition cameras and augmented-reality displays. S. regulators banned civilian supersonic flights over land in 1973 because sonic-boom noise exceeded 110 decibels.
Concorde entered commercial service in 1976 and made its final flight in November 2003 after a 2000 crash outside Paris and rising operating costs. Last year, Boom Supersonic’s single-seat XB-1 jet reached 844 mph in 12 minutes during a flight.
