NASA’s X-59 Soars After Historic Takeoff

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft took 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 and begins a new chapter in NASA’s aeronautics research legacy.

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft took 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 and begins a new chapter in NASA’s aeronautics research legacy.

Photographer NASA/Carla Thomas
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