X-59 Supersonic Aircraft Cleared for Final Assembly

January 8, 2020

Illustration of the completed X-59 QueSST landing on a runway. (Credit: Lockheed Martin).

NASA’s first large-scale, piloted X-plane in more than three decades entered final assembly and integration of its systems. The X-59 will be flown above select U.S. communities to generate data from sensors and people on the ground in order to gauge public perception. That data will help regulators establish new rules to enable commercial supersonic air travel over land.

Three major work areas are actively set up for building the airplane’s main fuselage, wing, and empennage. Final assembly and integration of the airplane’s systems – including an innovative cockpit eXternal Visibility System – is targeted for later this year.

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