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NASA completes X-59 test flight, hits Mach 1.2

9/8/2026

Summary

Story summary

NASA completed the X-59’s 25th test flight, reaching Mach 1.2 at 49,000 feet.
The sortie launched from Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California on August 21 and lasted 72 minutes.
A NASA F-15 chase plane’s sonic booms masked the X-59’s noise during the flight.
Engineers reported no instability and applied minor control-software tweaks to stop nuisance alerts.
Later this year the team will begin acoustic validation, a benchmark Larry Cliatt called the biggest.

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Story summary

NASA completed the X-59’s 25th test flight, reaching Mach 1.2 at 49,000 feet.
The sortie launched from Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California on August 21 and lasted 72 minutes.
A NASA F-15 chase plane’s sonic booms masked the X-59’s noise during the flight.
Engineers reported no instability and applied minor control-software tweaks to stop nuisance alerts.
Later this year the team will begin acoustic validation, a benchmark Larry Cliatt called the biggest.