X-59 starts engine for the first time

[Zaphod58]

The Lockheed/NASA X-59 QueSST has operated under its own power for the first time in the program. The aircraft has been undergoing ground testing, which found a problem with software that has required some significant changes. The first tests involved motoring the engine without actually starting it, to ensure no leaks, and everything in the engine communicates properly with instrumentation. Once motoring tests were completed, the engine was run at idle power which took it out of preservation, which it had been in since it was installed on the aircraft. Tests will occur at increasing power levels, until finally they will perform a test that sees a high power setting with rapid throttle changes, followed by a simulated flight to end the testing. First flight for the aircraft is targeting early 2025 now, after several years of delays. 

NASA’s Quesst mission marked a major milestone with the start of tests on the engine that will power the quiet supersonic X-59 experimental aircraft.
These engine-run tests, which began Oct. 30, allow the X-59 team to verify the aircraft’s systems are working together while powered by its own engine. In previous tests, the X-59 used external sources for power. The engine-run tests set the stage for the next phase of the experimental aircraft’s progress toward flight.
The X-59 team is conducting the engine-run tests in phases. In this first phase, the engine rotated at a relatively low speed without ignition to check for leaks and ensure all systems are communicating properly. The team then fueled the aircraft and began testing the engine at low power, with the goal of verifying that it and other aircraft systems operate without anomalies or leaks while on engine power.

https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/x-59-fi...o-takeoff/