PALMDALE, Calif., - Assembly of NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology aircraft is continuing during 2020 and making good progress, despite challenges such as those imposed by the unexpected global pandemic. NASA plans as early as 2024 to fly the X-59 over select communities on missions to gather information about how the public will react to the level of quiet supersonic flight noise the aircraft is designed to produce – if they hear anything at all, NASA reports.
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September 21, 2020 -Lockheed Martin is assembling the X-59 at its Skunk Works facility in California. The supersonic aircraft will be powered by General Electric's F414-GE-100 turbofan engine.
“We are over half-way complete with the build of this one-of-a-kind X-plane,” said David Richardson, X-59 Program Director, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. “We will soon complete close-out of the wing, which is the central structural anchor of the aircraft, and we will then prepare for mate of the empennage, fuselage, and the distinctive, super long nose. The team has done a phenomenal job of advancing aerospace technology and working through challenges to drive progress, all of which has been enabled by our close partnership with NASA.”
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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace
