NASA Readies IX-59 For Its First Supersonic Flight, SpaceX’s Starship Grounded And More Science News
This week, NASA shared more details about its proposed lunar plans, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded on the launch pad and the James Webb Space Telescope spotted a supermassive black hole that researchers say “may have formed in the first second after the big bang.” But first, we have updates on NASA’s X-59 high-altitude research plane and SpaceX’s Starship following last week’s test flight. Find out here in this week’s science news.
Key test flights are approaching for NASA’s super quiet aircraft
For the past decade, NASA has been developing a plane that could one day reach supersonic speeds — or travel faster than the speed of sound — without producing the sonic booms often associated with it. The plane, called the X-59, made its first return flight in October and has made several more in the months since. Now, NASA says it’s ready to go supersonic. The IX-59 is scheduled to take its first super-altitude flight, hitting more than 630 mph at an altitude of about 43,000 feet, in early June, according to the space agency.
Then, following the “mechanical conditions” test, it will reach 925 mph (Mach 1.4) at about 55,000 feet. After that, it will travel at its maximum speed: Mach 1.6, or 1,218 mph, at an altitude of 60,000 feet. NASA isn’t ready to demonstrate the X-59’s supersonic stealth capabilities yet. In this phase of the test, NASA noted in a blog post, “IX-59 will be compatible with a conventional chase plane, so any quiet bangs it produces in the current phase of the test will be masked by the loud, traditional sonic booms in the chase.”
FAA backs Starship after ‘mishaps’
SpaceX’s Starship V3 was launched for the first time last week in a test flight that achieved much of what the company set out to do. But, it wasn’t without its complete hiccups, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has since ordered a pause in Starship flights while it investigates what went wrong and prevented the Super Heavy booster from making a soft splashdown as intended.
The issue arose after the Starship separated from the Super Heavy. “After stage separation, the Super Heavy booster performed a directional flip maneuver and attempted a boostback burn,” SpaceX explained in a blog post after the launch. “It was unable to ignite all the engines we had planned and did some part of the boostback burn which ended prematurely. The Super Heavy tried to ignite its engines to burn before it encountered a splashdown in the Gulf of America.” The Starship continued to complete its journey and splashed down in the planned area in the Indian Ocean.
Starship Lift! pic.twitter.com/LQLdjK5V6K
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2026
“After a thorough review of the mission, the FAA has determined that the launch of SpaceX Starship Flight 12 on May 22 had a negative outcome,” the agency said in a statement released this week. “The accident involved a Super Heavy booster as it was flying back to the Gulf of America after a stage separation. There were no reports of civilian casualties or damage to public property.” It added, “The FAA requires SpaceX to conduct a malpractice investigation. The FAA will oversee the investigation led by SpaceX, be involved in every step of the process, and approve SpaceX’s final report, including any corrective actions.”
It’s not an unusual move on the FAA’s part, and SpaceX has faced similar lawsuits over the years, many of which were quickly folded. It probably won’t be long before we see the Starship back in action. “The return to flight of the Starship-Super Heavy vehicle is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the accident does not affect public safety,” the FAA noted in its statement.
The FAA grounded rival SpaceX’s Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket last month following its third mission, and it was cleared earlier this week to resume flights. But, during a hot test on Friday, the New Glenn exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. You can read more about that below.
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