Der leise Überschalljet der NASA hebt ab

**About an hour** after sunrise over the Mojave Desert of Southern California, NASA’s newest experimental supersonic jet took to the skies for the first time on Tuesday. The X-59 Quesst (Quiet SuperSonic Technology) is designed to decrease the noise of a sonic boom when an aircraft breaks the sound barrier, paving the way for future commercial jets to fly at supersonic speeds over land.

The jet, built by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, took off from US Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. Flown by Nils Larson, NASA’s lead test pilot for the X-59, the inaugural flight validated the jet’s airworthiness and safety before landing about an hour after takeoff near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

“X-59 is a symbol of American ingenuity,” acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy [said in a statement.](https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2025-10-28-X-59-Soars-A-New-Era-in-Supersonic-Flight-Begins) “It’s part of our DNA—the desire to go farther, faster, and even quieter than anyone has ever gone before.”

Read more: [https://www.wired.com/story/nasas-quiet-supersonic-jet-takes-flight/](https://www.wired.com/story/nasas-quiet-supersonic-jet-takes-flight/)

I hate to be a „Debbie Downer“, but it’s not going to bring supersonic flight to the masses. The Concorde was ridiculously expensive. Here’s a 2023 article that converts costs to 2023 dollars https://simpleflying.com/concorde-cost/
> In 1977, it cost £431 to fly one way onboard Concorde between London and Washington. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about £2,200 ($2,800) in today’s money. However, fare prices gradually went up, and by 1996, a roundtrip across the Atlantic would generally be priced at around $12,500 in today’s money.

The laws of physics haven’t changed. Economical high-bypass turbofans don’t work at supersonic speeds. That’s why the Concorde had fuel-guzzling turbojet engines. And it needed 4 fuel-guzzling engines to cruise at mach 2.2 versus today’s 2-engined economical planes at mach 0.75. The numbers don’t crunch.