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The American space agency NASA has presented its new supersonic aircraft “X-59” to the public for the first time. The jet, which is about thirty meters long and has a pointed front with a wingspan of about ten meters, was presented on Friday at a location of the defense company Lockheed Martin in the US state of California, live images from NASA showed.

The aircraft is the heart of NASA’s ‘Quessst’ mission (Quiet SuperSonic Technology). Initial flight tests are planned over selected regions of the US during the year, with further data collection to follow.

The “X-59” is a “100-foot step forward on a path that began decades ago toward sustainable commercial supersonic flight,” said NASA manager Bob Pearce. NASA Deputy Chief Pam Melroy described the plane as “another jewel in NASA’s crown.”

The special thing about the “X-59”: the machine must be able to fly without supersonic noise. In supersonic flight, the airspeed is greater than the speed of sound in the area around the aircraft. When an airplane breaks the sound barrier in mid-air, there is a very loud bang. It is not heard just once, but is continually created.

As long as the aircraft is flying at supersonic speeds, certain sound waves are created that travel along the route at the same speed as the aircraft and are audible. Partly because this worries and bothers many people, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has banned all civilian supersonic flights over the US until further notice.

The “X-59” is supposed to fly at an altitude of about 10 miles at a speed of about 900 miles per hour – and instead of a loud bang, it only produces a sound as loud as a car door slamming shut. Lockheed Martin received approximately 250 million dollars (about 230 million euros) from NASA to develop the aircraft.

The last time regular supersonic flights took place was about twenty years ago with the legendary Concorde between Paris, London and New York. After an accident in Paris that killed more than 100 people in 2000, operations were halted in 2003 due to major losses. In addition to NASA and Lockheed Martin, other companies are currently working on the return of supersonic jets. (sda/dpa)