NASA Wants Supersonic Plane With No Sonic Boom, Lockheed Martin Gets The Contract

For decades, supersonic flight has been possible thanks to planes that were specifically designed to reach speeds that exceed that of sound. However, in every single instance of an aircraft breaking the sound barrier, a sonic boom is always created. Now, NASA wants a plane created that will reach supersonic speeds without this telltale sign and Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract to build it.

The contract is worth $247.5 million and the money will go to the company’s Skunk Works division to develop this aircraft, CNBC reports. The plane is being designated as the Quiet Supersonic Technology (or QueSST) aircraft and will be NASA’s new generation of X-planes. For the most part, it seems the company’s engineers are eager to get to work, with program manager Peter Iosifidis telling the publication as much.

"We look forward to applying the extensive work completed under QueSST to the design, build and flight test of the X-plane, providing NASA with a demonstrator to make supersonic commercial travel possible for passengers around the globe," Iosifidis said.

The plan is to produce a prototype by 2021 that will be capable of low-boom flight. This would mean reaching speeds of about 940mph while only making enough sound to seem like a car door was closing at around 50,000 feet in the air.

As Space.com also notes, the tests will involve asking residents of areas where the plane will fly over if they heard anything. The challenge of creating a plane that can break the sound barrier isn’t just the loudness of the noise but also the distance at which the noise carries.

If Lockheed actually succeeds in creating such a plane, it could open new doors for the aerospace industry. An aircraft that can reach supersonic speeds quietly and then speed up even faster could cut flight times down significantly.