NASA’s X-59 silent supersonic aircraft project has reached a critical milestone with the completion of its flight readiness review, paving the way for future flight tests.

NASA has completed a critical review that will advance airworthiness testing of the quiet X-59 supersonic aircraft, allowing it to take flight.

An independent Flight Readiness Review Board composed of experts from across NASA completed a detailed evaluation of the X-59 Project Team’s safety strategies for the public and personnel during ground and flight testing. The board reviewed the team’s assessment of potential hazards, focusing on safety and risk identification.

Statistics and next steps for flight preparation

The flight readiness review is the first step in the flight approval process. The board’s work will provide information and guidance to the X-59 team on verifying systems on the ground and in first flight.

“This is a no-no,” said Kathy Baum, NASA’s Low Boom Flight Demonstrator project manager. “We will take action by the board and work with them to address these issues and work on airworthiness review and flight safety.”

Reducing sonic booms

NASA and prime contractor Lockheed Martin are developing the X-59 to reduce the sonic boom to a quieter “thump.” The aircraft is at the center of NASA’s Quest mission, which will use it to collect data that could revolutionize air travel, potentially paving the way for a new generation of commercial aircraft that can fly faster than the speed of sound. Commercial supersonic flights over the ground have been banned for more than 50 years due to the noise of sonic booms.

X-59 Team Update

“The flight readiness review focused on specific aspects of the X-59 team’s work on the aircraft, but also served as a review and update of the entire project,” said Jay Brandon, chief engineer for the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator project.

“It gave us the opportunity to take a moment and bring together everything we had done so we could tell our story not just to the board but to the entire project team,” Brandon said.

Following completion of the airworthiness review, the upcoming airworthiness and safety review will be the next safety milestone.

The Airworthiness and Flight Safety Review Board includes senior leaders from various NASA and Lockheed Martin centers. It will examine the findings of the flight readiness review and the project team’s response to these documents. The board will send a recommendation to the director of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, who will sign the airworthiness certificate.

Finally, the team will present a technical briefing to another review board based on the test objectives, how the tests were conducted, the risks involved, and the risk mitigation measures the team took. The X-59 team would need to address the issues raised in the briefing before the board of directors, led by NASA Armstrong chief engineer Cynthia J. “CJ” Bixby, signed off on the flight request.

“This is a really exciting time in the project,” Bam said. “This is not an easy road, but we have a limited number of activities ahead of us.”

The way forward

Important steps need to be taken before flights begin. The X-59 team is preparing for upcoming major ground tests focusing on systems integration engine performance and electromagnetic interference.

The X-59 is a bold new design, but those parts include the landing gear of the Air Force F-16 fighter jet, the cockpit of the NASA T-38 trainer aircraft, and the stick control system on the Air Force F-117 stealth fighter jet.

“None of these systems have worked together before,” said Brad Neal, Chairman of the X-59 Airworthiness and Safety Review Board. “Although this is components found in a variety of older aircraft, it is something completely new that we are developing. This will be a great learning opportunity as we begin integration testing.”