NASA released a statement on Friday announcing that it will reveal the X-59 silent supersonic aircraft the following week.

A section of the NASA release stated, “As part of the agency’s Quesst mission to make commercial supersonic flight possible, NASA will provide live coverage as it reveals its X-59 aircraft at 4 p.m. EST on Friday, Jan. 12.”
The aircraft, which just got a patriotic paint job, will be unveiled to the public at a ceremony held at the renowned Palmdale, California, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works plant.

The X-59 will fly over inhabited areas of the United States as part of NASA’s Quesst mission. Following the flight, the space agency will gather public feedback regarding the aircraft’s sound and provide it to international authorities for evaluation.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) now forbids any commercial aircraft from flying over land at supersonic speeds. The Supersonic Transport Concorde aircraft, which was eventually retired in part because of issues with environmental limits on the creation of sonic booms, is largely responsible for the laws that were put in place.

Still, earlier laws such as the 1968 Aircraft Noise Abatement Act required the FAA to work with the DOT to develop and revise aircraft noise and sonic boom measurement standards. The FAA proposed a rule in 1970 that would have limited civil aircraft speeds to less than Mach 1 unless the FAA expressly approved a higher speed.

According to FAA regulations, civilian aircraft cannot fly over the United States or within a designated offshore area where there is a risk of sonic boom reaching U.S. territory at speeds faster than Mach 1. The FAA may occasionally make specific exceptions, but all new aircraft, including the X-59, must meet the agency’s current noise certification requirements.

“The first step to changing existing regulations by demonstrating that an airplane can be designed to produce a quieter sonic ‘thump’ instead of a disruptive sonic boom,” according to NASA, is what the X-59 will be.
It is anticipated that other aircraft will also advocate for revisions to the current FAA supersonic travel standards, in addition to the X-59. American Airlines put a number of non-refundable deposits for 20 Overture aircraft in 2022. Boom Supersonic is a company that aims to build aircraft that can transport up to 80 passengers at Mach 1.7. Like the Concorde and Tupolev Tu-144, Overture can only fly over water, though.

According to NASA, the X-59’s unveiling next week will be broadcast live for viewers on the space agency’s NASA+ streaming service, along with associated social media platforms, web and television services, and the official NASA app. You may get more details about the X-59 on the NASA Quesst program homepage.