NASA's newest X-plane is the emissions-cutting X-66A (2024)

NASA has named its newest experimental aircraft the X-66A, making it the latest in the U.S. space agency’s long list of experimental vehicles designed to push the boundaries of aviation.

But unlike earlier craft like the X-1, which carried Chuck Yeager on the first supersonic flight, or the X-15, flown by Neil Armstrong and others to record-setting altitudes, this plane, previously known as the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator, aims to reduce emissions to help the U.S. airline industry reach net-zero targets by mid-century.

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“At NASA, our eyes are not just focused on stars but also fixated on the sky,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in making the announcement. “The Sustainable Flight Demonstrator builds on NASA’s world-leading efforts in aeronautics as well as climate. 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.”

NASA teamed with Boeing on a redesign of the MD-90, a single-aisle passenger jet originally produced by McDonnell Douglas from 1993 to 1997, and by Boeing since then. It seats 153 passengers.

The agency plans to build, test and fly a full-scale version of the plane with a shorter fuselage and extra-long, thinner wings stabilized by a pair of diagonal struts, known as a transonic truss-based wing concept. Combined with other advancements in propulsion and materials it’s hoped the X-66A could use 30 per cent less fuel than current best-in-class aircraft designs.

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“To reach our goal of net zero aviation emissions by 2050, we need transformative aircraft concepts like the ones we’re flying on the X-66A,” said Bob Pearce, associate administrator for NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. “With this experimental aircraft, we’re aiming high to demonstrate the kinds of energy-saving, emissions-reducing technologies the aviation industry needs.”

Todd Citron, Boeing’s chief technology officer, added: “We’re incredibly proud of this designation, because it means that the X-66A will be the next in a long line of experimental aircraft used to validate breakthrough designs that have transformed aviation.”

The X-series are not generally expected to enter full-scale production. (An exception is the Lockheed Martin X-35, a fighter jet that went into production as the F-35 Lightning II, and has been sold to the Canadian military under the name CF-35.) But the hope is that the technology will become standard on other aircraft in the future.

“With the learnings gained from design, construction, and flight-testing, we’ll have an opportunity to shape the future of flight and contribute to the decarbonization of aerospace,” said Citron.

NASA has said it will invest $425 million over seven years in the project, with Boeing and its partners contributing the remainder of the funding, estimated at about $725 million.

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