NASA announced Wednesday that the agency is seeking partners to develop technologies needed to shape a new generation of lower-emission single-aisle aircraft that passengers could see at airports by the 2030s.
With its new partnership proposal announcement, NASA plans to fund one or more awards to design, build, test and fly a large-scale demonstrator with an advanced airframe configuration and related technologies. The agency’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator (SFD) project aims to reduce aviation carbon emissions and ensure U.S. competitiveness in an in-demand area of aircraft design — single-aisle commercial aircraft.
NASA focuses on technology for single-aisle aircraft — the workhorse of many aviation fleets — which account for nearly half of global aviation emissions.
“Since its inception, NASA has worked with industry to develop and implement innovative aerospace technology — and shared it with the world,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. “Now, with this ambitious new project, we are once again partnering with U.S. industry to usher in a new era of cutting-edge improvements that will make the global aviation industry cleaner, quieter and more sustainable.”
The agency innovates for the benefit of humanity, and any new aircraft and technologies developed through this project will help the United States achieve net-zero carbon emissions from aviation by 2050 — one of the environmental goals articulated in the US Aviation Climate Action Plan from the White House.
NASA’s plan is to complete project testing by the end of the 2020s so that new green technologies can be validated and industry makes decisions about the next generation of single-aisle aircraft to hit the market by the 2030s.
“In the coming years, global air mobility will continue to grow at a steady pace, and single-aisle aircraft will continue to carry most of that passenger traffic,” said Bob Pearce, NASA associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. “In partnership with industry, NASA plans to seize this opportunity to meet our aggressive environmental goals while advancing the global leadership of the U.S. aerospace industry.”
NASA expects to select at least one industry partner in early 2023 for a Funded Space Act agreement with the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Such an agreement would provide funding and access to NASA facilities and expertise. The agreement would benefit from the knowledge and experience of the private sector, with a contractor preparing a proposed technical plan and contributing significant funding to the project.
For these kinds of agreements, NASA would not purchase an aircraft or other hardware for its missions – the goal is to develop new and innovative technologies and capabilities. The industry partner will design, build, test and pilot a large-scale demonstrator, and NASA will obtain ground and flight data that agencies and industry teams can use to validate the airframe configuration and associated technologies.
The flight project is an activity under NASA’s Integrated Aviation Systems Program, and it is a key part of the Sustainable Flight National Partnership, which focuses on developing new sustainable technologies for commercial transportation vehicles.
Read more about NASA’s sustainable aviation efforts at:
nasa.gov/aeroresearch/sustainable-aviation
Thanks to NASA.
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