{"id":26771,"date":"2025-10-28T09:21:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T09:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/26771\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T09:21:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T09:21:12","slug":"see-the-coolest-thing-made-in-california-as-newsom-praises-skunk-works-product","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/26771\/","title":{"rendered":"See the \u2018coolest thing made in California\u2019 as Newsom praises Skunk Works product"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works\u2019 X-59<\/a>, a cutting-edge experimental aircraft aimed at making supersonic travel quieter, has been voted the winner of the 2024 \u201cCoolest Thing Made in California\u201d award.<\/a><\/p>\n

The annual contest, presented by the California Manufacturing & Technology Association during Manufacturing Month, highlights innovation and manufacturing success across the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cManufacturing continues to be foundational to California\u2019s economic growth \u2014 creating good-paying jobs and shaping the industries of the future,\u201d Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a news release Monday. \u201cThis competition, and the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works X-59, is evidence that the country\u2019s top talent and innovation is in California.\u201d<\/p>\n

The association announced the award Oct. 23.<\/p>\n

NASA and Lockheed Martin\u2019s Palmdale facility are teaming up to develop the X-59. The jet is designed to tackle one of supersonic flight\u2019s long-standing challenges: the loud sonic boom. By separating shockwaves, the X-59 is capable of producing a much softer sonic \u201cthump,\u201d potentially paving the way for future commercial supersonic flights over populated areas.<\/p>\n

NASA will collect data from communities about the acceptability of the jet\u2019s noise. The results could help inform new regulations that might one day allow passengers to travel long distances much faster than current commercial aircraft permit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re honored that Californians chose the X-59 as the Coolest Thing Made in California,\u201d Patrick LeBeau, X-59 program manager, said in a statement. \u201cThis recognition celebrates the groundbreaking technology and precision engineering behind the X-59, and the incredible dedication of our Palmdale team and partners. We thank CMTA and everyone who voted for helping shine a spotlight on California\u2019s world-class manufacturing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The contest drew over 200,000 votes across four rounds. Other finalists included Siemens\u2019 Amtrak Airo Trainset, produced in Sacramento<\/a>; Phillips 66\u2019s Sustainable Aviation Fuel from Rodeo; and Saildrone\u2019s Voyager, made in Alameda.<\/p>\n

California is home to one-third of the nation\u2019s space technology companies and has more aerospace engineers and defense personnel than any other state, according to the Governor\u2019s Office. Overall, more than 45,000 manufacturing establishments operate in California, employing over 1.24 million residents across a range of sectors such as aerospace, clean tech, life sciences and high-tech manufacturing.<\/p>\n

\"NASA\u2019s<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits on the ramp at sunrise before ground tests at Lockheed Martin\u2019s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, on July 18, 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lockheed Martin Skunk Works\u2019 X-59, a cutting-edge experimental aircraft aimed at making supersonic travel quieter, has been voted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,14765,457,20366,15557,20367,20365],"class_list":["post-26771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-experimental-aircraft","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-lockheed-martin","tag-lockheed-martin-skunk-works","tag-made-in-california","tag-supersonic-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}