X‑59 test flight cut short
NASA’s X‑59 quiet supersonic demonstrator completed a second flight that was cut short by an in‑flight technical warning as the program moves into envelope expansion targeting Mach 1.4. (theaviationgeekclub.com) The abbreviated sortie still advances data collection for future quiet supersonic travel but highlights the test program’s incremental risk management. (avweb.com) (interestingengineering.com)
NASA’s X‑59 flew on March 20, 2026, taking off from Edwards Air Force Base at 10:54 a.m. PDT and returning at 11:03 a.m., with NASA test pilot Jim “Clue” Less at the controls. (nasa.gov)) The sortie lasted about nine minutes and reached roughly 370 kilometers per hour at about 12,000 feet, short of the planned roughly one‑hour subsonic checks that would have included a run to about 415 km/h and 20,000 feet. (aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org)) Several minutes into the flight a vehicle‑system warning illuminated in the cockpit, NASA officials said, and the team has taken the aircraft back to the hangar while they investigate which system triggered the alert. (nasa.gov)) NASA described the March sortie as the start of a measured envelope‑expansion campaign that will include roughly ten incremental test conditions before attempting supersonic runs, with dozens of flights planned in 2026 to gather airworthiness and acoustic data. (aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org)) The X‑59 is powered by a single GE F414‑GE‑100 engine rated at about 22,000 pounds of thrust, the propulsion selected to enable the aircraft’s design research speed of Mach 1.4 (about 925 mph) at roughly 55,000 feet. (nasa.gov)) NASA’s program noted the X‑59 first flew on Oct. 28, 2025, and underwent extensive post‑flight inspections and component reinstallation before the March campaign, work the agency said was completed ahead of the second flight. (nasa.gov))
