PALMDALE, Calif., - NASA's X-59A Quiet Supersonic Technology aircraft, or QueSST, now has its F414-GE-100 turbofan engine, another important step toward its first flight, which is currently scheduled to take place next year. Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works advanced projects division is building the experimental X-59A, which will be used to explore sonic-boom-mitigating technologies that could significantly affect the future of supersonic flight, particularly in the commercial realm, Joseph Trevithick reports for The War Zone. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
17 November 2022 - The installation of the F414-GE-100 engine took place at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, earlier this month, marking a major milestone as the X-59 approaches the completion of its assembly.
The 13-foot-long engine from General Electric Aviation packs 22,000 pounds of propulsion energy and will power the X-59 as it flies at speeds up to Mach 1.4 and altitudes around 55,000 feet. The X-59 team will follow the aircraft’s assembly with a series of ground tests and ultimately, first flight in 2023.
NASA’s X-59 is the centerpiece of the agency’s Quesst mission. The aircraft is designed to reduce the sound of sonic booms, which occur when an aircraft flies at supersonic speeds, to a quiet sonic “thump.” This will be demonstrated when NASA flies the X-59 over communities around the U.S. starting in 2025, with the goal of providing the data necessary to open the future to commercial supersonic flight over land, greatly reducing flight times.
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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace
