# NASA’s X-43A Accelerates Hypersonic Flight (AFRC-2025-14538-02)

NASA took a major step toward redefining high-speed flight on Nov. 16, 2004, when the X-43A – a small, experimental aircraft – proved that an engine drawing oxygen from the atmosphere could propel an aircraft to hypersonic speeds. During the flight over the Pacific Ocean west of California, the X-43A set the world speed record for a jet-powered aircraft, reaching Mach 9.6, or nearly 7,000 mph. The mission originated from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Click here for the latest on NASA’s hypersonic research: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/armd/aavp/hypersonic-technology-project/

- Kind: Short
- Year: 2004
- Runtime: 2 min
- By: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center
- Genres: Space
- Archive: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NASA%E2%80%99s_X-43A_Accelerates_Hypersonic_Flight_(AFRC-2025-14538-02).webm)
- Licence or status: Public domain (as the archive states it)
- Credit: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/commons/187884704?play=1)