NASA Designates New X-Plane

NASA announced on Monday that the aircraft to be produced through its Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project will be the agency's next X-Plane. Designated the X-66A, the modified MD-90 will feature “long, thin wings with engines mounted underneath and a set of aerodynamic trusses for support.” Designed to “inform a potential new generation of more sustainable single-aisle aircraft,” the X-66A transonic truss-braced wing concept is expected consume up to 30 percent less fuel and produce fewer emissions than current best-in-class aircraft.

“The Sustainable Flight Demonstrator builds on NASA’s world-leading efforts in aeronautics as well [as] climate,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The X-66A will help shape the future of aviation, a new era where aircraft are greener, cleaner, and quieter, and create new possibilities for the flying public and American industry alike.”

As previously reported by AVweb, Boeing was awarded a research grant to build the full-scale transonic truss-braced wing demonstrator last January. The company, which will test and fly the aircraft in addition to doing the modification work, will receive $425 million over seven years via a Funded Space Act Agreement with NASA. Boeing and other partners will cover the remainder of the project’s expected $725 million price tag.