NASA's X-59 QueSST is collecting flight data that could provide the first scientific basis for overturning the FAA's 53-year ban on overland supersonic flight.
VectorNASA's X-59 QueSST is actively flying with a 75 PLdB boom target - potentially ending the 1973 ban on overland supersonic flight in the U.S.
VectorOn October 14, 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first person confirmed to fly faster than sound, reaching Mach 1.06 at 43,000 feet over the Mojave Desert.
TaildraggerNASA's X-59 QueSST aircraft is designed to prove that shaped sonic boom technology can produce sound quiet enough to overturn a 50-year FAA ban on overland supersonic flight.
VectorNASA's X-59 QueSST is building the evidence case to replace a 50-year FAA ban on overland supersonic flight with a measurable acoustic performance standard.
VectorNASA's X-59 QueSST is testing shaped sonic boom technology that could reduce perceived noise by 60% and reopen U.S. skies to supersonic airliners for the first time since 1973.
VectorNASA's F-5 Tiger at Oshkosh 2026 isn't a warbird display - it's an active research platform behind laminar flow and sonic boom technology pilots will fly someday.
TowerBoom Supersonic's XB-1 broke the sound barrier in March 2024, making a 2029 return of commercial supersonic flight plausible - if an unproven in-house engine delivers.
VectorBoom Supersonic's XB-1 demonstrator broke Mach 1 without afterburner in October 2024, validating the aerodynamic models that underpin the planned Overture supersonic airliner.
VectorThe North American XB-70 Valkyrie flew at Mach 3 and rode its own shockwave over the Mojave, but strategic politics and a fatal midair collision ensured only one would survive to reach a museum.
TaildraggerOn November 20, 1953, Scott Crossfield became the first person to fly at Mach 2, reaching 1,291 mph in the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket over the Mojave Desert.
TowerNASA's X-59 QueSST completed its first flight on January 24, 2024, launching a program aimed at replacing the 50-year US ban on supersonic overland civil flight with a noise-based standard.
VectorBoom Supersonic's XB-1 broke the sound barrier over Mojave with no boom reaching the ground - here's what it means for civil supersonic flight.
TowerHow Boom Supersonic's XB-1 and 'boomless cruise' physics could finally make supersonic flight legal over land.
VectorNASA's new university research awards fund AI-assisted avionics, quiet supersonic propulsion, noise reduction, and cheaper certification - here's what it means for pilots.
TowerThe XB-70 Valkyrie was a Mach 3 bomber made obsolete by missiles; the last one survives at the Air Force museum in Dayton.
TaildraggerBoom's XB-1 flew supersonic without a sonic boom reaching the ground - here's how Mach cutoff works and what it means for supersonic travel.
VectorHow Boom Supersonic's XB-1 broke the sound barrier over the US - and why the Symphony engine will decide whether Overture ever flies.
VectorNASA's X-59 aims to soften the sonic boom into a quiet 'thump' and overturn the 1973 ban on overland supersonic flight.
VectorHow Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947 - flying with two cracked ribs and a broomstick to close the hatch.
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