NASA’s X-59 Lifts Off for First Flight

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft lifts off for its first flight Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, from U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. The aircraft’s first flight marks the start of flight testing for NASA’s Quesst mission, the result of years of design, integration, and ground testing and begins a new chapter in NASA’s aeronautics research legacy.

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft lifts off for its first flight Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, from U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. The aircraft’s first flight marks the start of flight testing for NASA’s Quesst mission, the result of years of design, integration, and ground testing and begins a new chapter in NASA’s aeronautics research legacy.

Photographer NASA/Carla Thomas
Album X-59_First_Flight
Location AFRC
NASAX-59First FlightTakeoffAviationHistoryLow Boom Flight DemonstratorQuesstQuestCrew ChiefGround CrewSupersonicMachSonic BoomQuiet Supersonic TechnologyX-planesX-planeAeronauticsTest PilotLockheed MartinSkunk WorksSpeedAFRCArmstrong Flight Research CenterLangley Research CenterAmes Research CenterGlenn Research CenterSonic ThumpCommercial Supersonic TechnologyAirplanesPalmdaleCaliforniaLBFD