
NASA has awarded a $247.5 million contract to Lockheed Martin [LMT] to finish developing and build an airplane prototype that could someday pave the way for quiet, supersonic passenger jets.Under the contract, announced April 3, the Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD) will undergo a critical design review in September 2019 and be assembled at a Lockheed Martin Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, Calif. Flight testing is set to begin in the summer of 2021. Initial flights will verify that the single-seat, single-engine…