Lockheed designing mach 1.4 plane with a quiet sonic boom

The Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) X-plane will make supersonic flight greener and quieter. The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works team is trying to deliver high-speed flight with revolutionary low-impact sound.

NASA selected a team led by Lockheed Martin to complete a preliminary design for the QueSST X-plane. This endeavor supports NASA’s Commercial Supersonic Technology Project, which aims to better understand acceptable commercial supersonic aircraft sound levels across the country and develop a way for piloted aircraft to fly fast with low boom.

QueSST is designed to fly at Mach 1.4, 55,000 feet above the ground. The aircraft is shaped to separate the shocks and expansions associated with supersonic flight to reduce the volume of the shaped signature. QueSST’s “heartbeat” will be dramatically quieter than the traditional “N-wave” sonic boom associated with the current supersonic aircraft in flight today.