India, June 4 -- NASA's highly anticipated X-59 aircraft is edging closer to its first-ever flight, bringing attention to the future of supersonic passenger travel decades after Concorde's retirement.

The experimental jet, often described as a potential "successor to Concorde", is currently undergoing final safety checks ahead of its debut test flight, according to The Mirror US. If successful, the aircraft could one day dramatically cut travel times between London and New York.

The X-59 has been designed to reach speeds of Mach 1.5, or roughly 990 mph (1,590 kph). At those speeds, the aircraft could theoretically complete a nonstop London-to-New York journey in about three hours and 44 minutes.

That is significantly faster than conven...