Lockheed Martin Skunk Works · Quiet Supersonic Research · USA · Digital Age (2010–present)
Open in interactive gallery →See aircraft like this on the live radar →The Lockheed Martin X-59 QueSST ('Quiet SuperSonic Technology') is a U.S. supersonic research aircraft developed by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works under NASA's Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD) programme. Roll-out occurred in 2024 following final assembly and pre-flight testing, with first flight targeted for 2025-2026. The joint NASA/Skunk Works effort aims to demonstrate that supersonic flight can be achieved without the disruptive sonic boom that grounded civil supersonic travel after Concorde's 2003 retirement. The X-59's classified airframe shape converts the conventional sonic boom into a quieter 'sonic thump' of around 75 PLdB — comparable to a car door closing. Together with commercial programmes such as Boom Supersonic Overture, the X-59 lays groundwork for resuming civil supersonic operations over coming decades.
The X-59 is a single-engine, elongated research aircraft 99.7 ft (30.4 m) long with a 29.5 ft (9.0 m) wingspan and an empty weight of roughly 32,300 lb. Power comes from a single General Electric F414-GE-100 afterburning turbofan rated at about 22,000 lbf with afterburner. Maximum speed is Mach 1.4 (around 925 mph at altitude), with a service ceiling of 55,000 ft. Three features define the design: an extremely elongated fuselage near 100 ft that distributes the supersonic shock pattern along the airframe to soften the boom into a thump; an External Vision System (eXternal Vision System / XVS), a 4K monitor fed by a forward camera that gives the pilot a usable forward view, since the long nose blocks direct sightlines through a conventional canopy; and a NASA/Lockheed Martin classified aerodynamic shape tuned specifically for low-boom supersonic flight.
The Lockheed Martin X-59 QueSST is an American supersonic test plane built for NASA. QueSST stands for Quiet SuperSonic Technology. The X-59 will help bring back fast passenger jets like the old Concorde, by proving that supersonic flight does not have to make a loud bang on the ground.
The X-59 is 100 feet long with a 30-foot wingspan, longer than 2 school buses lined up. One General Electric F414 jet engine makes 22,000 pounds of thrust with afterburner. Top speed is Mach 1, faster than a rifle bullet. The plane was rolled out in 2024, with first flight planned for 2025 or 2026.
The Concorde was retired in 2003 because its loud sonic boom upset people on the ground. The X-59 changes the shape of the boom into a softer thump, like a car door closing. It does this by making the body very long and pointy. The shock waves spread out along the body, instead of bunching into one big crack.
The X-59 has such a long nose that the pilot cannot see straight ahead through the windshield. Instead, a 4K video screen called the External Vision System shows what is in front of the plane, fed by a camera in the nose. If the X-59 works, new supersonic airliners could fly over land again. By the 2030s, you may fly from Los Angeles to New York in half the time it takes today.
When a plane flies faster than sound, it pushes the air aside, making a loud BANG on the ground. The Concorde supersonic airliner was banned from flying over land in many countries because the boom upset people. So Concorde could only fly fast over oceans, limiting where it could go. The X-59 wants to fix this.
A normal supersonic plane has shock waves bunched up into one big BANG. The X-59 has a very long pointy body that spreads the shocks out along its length. The shocks reach the ground spread apart, sounding like a soft thump or a car door closing, not a bang. The shape of the X-59 is the secret.
Maybe. The X-59 will test if people on the ground really like the softer thump. If so, the FAA might allow supersonic flight over land again. Companies like Boom Supersonic are already building new fast airliners. By the 2030s, you may fly from Los Angeles to New York in half the time it takes today.
Through a classified airframe shape. The 100-ft elongated fuselage, tailored wing-fuselage blending, canard and other aerodynamic features spread supersonic shock waves along the length of the aircraft rather than letting them coalesce into a single hard front. The result is a drop from Concorde-era ground-level signatures of around 90+ PLdB — a true sonic boom causing windows to rattle — to roughly 75 PLdB, a 'sonic thump' on the order of a car door closing. NASA and Lockheed Martin developed this shape over years of low-boom research, and it is the technical key to any future overland commercial supersonic flight.
Between 2025 and 2026. Final assembly was completed in 2024, with ground and pre-flight testing running through 2025. First flight is targeted in the 2025-2026 window, though schedule slippage is common in classified, complex programmes. The post-first-flight campaign runs 2026-2028 and includes the community-response flights over U.S. cities used to validate public reaction to the thump. That data feeds directly into the regulatory case for civil supersonic transports.
Potentially, with caveats. X-59 low-boom validation provides the regulatory and technology foundation needed to close the civil supersonic gap left by Concorde's 2003 retirement, which the decades since have not filled. Programmes such as Boom Supersonic Overture — a 65-passenger Mach 1.7 transport targeting 2030+ service entry — depend on this validation. If it succeeds, a civil supersonic market through 2035-2045 becomes plausible, but commercial economics remain a hurdle: Concorde's route economics were marginal, and any X-59-enabled successor will face the same scrutiny.
The External Vision System. Because the X-59's elongated forward fuselage blocks the pilot's direct forward view through a conventional canopy, the aircraft uses a 4K cockpit monitor fed by externally mounted cameras to give the pilot a high-resolution forward picture. XVS has implications beyond the X-59: future stealth and classified aircraft with vision-limiting outer mould lines may adopt similar camera-and-display approaches, and the cockpit philosophy departs sharply from conventional canopy-based layouts.