Lockheed to design quieter supersonic jets

NASA’s Commercial Supersonic Technology Project had asked industry teams to submit design concepts for a test aircraft that can fly at supersonic speeds, creating a supersonic “heartbeat” - a soft thump rather than the disruptive boom currently associated with supersonic flight. 

This is the first in a series of ‘X-planes’ in NASA’s New Aviation Horizons initiative, introduced in the agency’s fiscal year 2017 budget. 

Lockheed Martin will receive about $20 million over 17 months for QueSST preliminary design work.. Depending on funding, the aircraft will start flight campaign around 2020, NASA said.