New Altitudes and Maximum Speed Reached for NASA's 'Silent' Supersonic Airplane X-59 QueSST

Just a few days ago, we reported on how the 'silent' supersonic airplane NASA X-59 QueSST (Quiet SuperSonic Technology), currently under development by the U.S. space agency and Lockheed Martin, had reached a speed exceeding Mach 1 in its first test at supersonic speeds. This was a historic moment for the project, but NASA has not stopped there, as it intends to increase the number of test flights over the coming months.

Just a few days later, as previously announced, the NASA X-59 QueSST has surpassed itself once again. According to a press release from the agency, yesterday the experimental airplane reached a maximum speed of 1487 km/h (Mach 1.4) and an altitude of 16.8 km. The duration of this test was slightly shorter than the previous one, lasting just over an hour.

Although several tests remain to be completed, these same settings will be used for experimental flights over populated areas when the airplane has reached a level of reliability and safety deemed suitable for such trials.

As in other exercises, accompanying the experimental airplane was a NASA McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. According to reports, the latter was significantly louder (at the same speed) than the NASA X-59 QueSST. On the F-15, there was a system for measuring the sound signature of the experimental airplane.

It should be noted that the purpose of the NASA X-59 QueSST (Quiet SuperSonic Technology) is not to lead to the direct construction of a commercial supersonic airplane. Instead, the space agency aims to gather useful data to provide to manufacturers interested in developing them, so that commercial supersonic airplanes can fly over populated areas without causing noise pollution issues and damage due to the 'sonic boom'.

This will allow new routes for supersonic airplanes, enabling them to travel not only over oceans or seas (as the Concorde did) but also over urban and populated areas. By expanding available routes, a new business related to rapid travel could emerge, although costs will still be lower than those of a Concorde (albeit not inexpensive in an absolute sense).