Lockheed Martin Skunk Works Begins Manufacturing X-59 Supersonic Aircraft Parts

Supersonic commercial air travel is taking shape as X-59 QueSST manufacturing begins.

November 20, 2018

Courtney E. Howard

Lockheed Martin engineers are designing, building, and flight testing the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator. The X-59 is scheduled to conduct its first flight in 2021.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, is manufacturing the first part for the X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology aircraft, a milestone on the journey to bring supersonic commercial air travel one step closer to reality.

“The start of manufacturing on the project marks a great leap forward for the X-59 and the future of quiet supersonic commercial travel,” says Peter Iosifidis, Low Boom Flight Demonstrator program manager Lockheed Martin Skunk Works.

X-59 is designed to cruise at 55,000 feet at a speed of about 940 miles per hour (mph) and create a sound about as loud as a car door closing, 75 Perceived Level decibel (PLdB), instead of a sonic boom. Noise is of considerable concern, so during its first flight, the aircraft will collect community response data on the acceptability of the quiet sonic boom generated by the aircraft, helping NASA establish an acceptable commercial supersonic noise standard to overturn current regulations banning supersonic travel over land.