About Flight Demonstrations and Capabilities (FDC) Project

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft lifts off for its first flight Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, from U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. The aircraft’s first flight marks the start of flight testing for NASA’s Quesst mission, the result of years of design, integration, and ground testing and begins a new chapter in NASA’s aeronautics research legacy.

NASA/Lori Losey

The FDC project conducts complex integrated small-scale flight research to validate the benefits of new technologies.