Sustainable Flight Demonstrator

NASA and Boeing are currently evaluating an updated approach to the agency’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project that would focus on demonstrating thin-wing technology with broad applications for multiple aircraft configurations.

Posted April 24, 2025

Armstrong Flight Research Center

Advanced Air Mobility

Aeronautics

C-20A

DC-8

Earth Science

ER-2

Flight Opportunities Program

Quesst (X-59)

Sustainable Flight Demonstrator

2024: NASA Armstrong Prepares for Future Innovative Research Efforts

NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, is preparing today for tomorrow’s mission. Supersonic flight, next generation aircraft, advanced air mobility, climate changes, human exploration of space, and the next innovation are just some of the topics our researchers, engineers, and mission support teams focused on in 2024.

Posted December 20, 2024

Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate

Advanced Air Transport Technology

Advanced Air Vehicles Program

Aeronautics

Ames Research Center

Armstrong Flight Research Center

Glenn Research Center

Langley Research Center

Sustainable Flight Demonstrator

Sustainable Flight National Partnership

NASA Funds New Studies Looking at Future of Sustainable Aircraft

Picture yourself at an airport a few decades from now. What does your airliner look like? It’s more efficient, with lower emissions than today’s aircraft – what kinds of designs or technology make that possible? NASA is working to answer those questions by commissioning five new design studies looking to push the boundaries of possibility […]

Posted November 12, 2024

Aeronautics

Armstrong Flight Research Center

Flight Innovation

Green Aviation Tech

NASA Aircraft

Sustainable Flight Demonstrator

Boneyard Airplane Sees New Life as a NASA X-66 Simulator

NASA’s X-66 aircraft, the centerpiece of its Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, is taking the term “sustainable” to heart by reusing an old MD-90 cockpit as a base for its new X-66 simulator. When airplanes are retired, they often wind up in “boneyards” — storage fields where they spend years being picked over for parts by […]

Posted July 23, 2024

Aeronautics

Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate

Armstrong Flight Research Center

Green Aviation Tech

Integrated Aviation Systems Program

Sustainable Flight Demonstrator

New Look at NASA, Boeing Sustainable Experimental Airliner

As NASA and Boeing enter the early stages of producing the X-66, the first X-plane specifically focused on helping the United States achieve net-zero aviation emissions by 2050, the team is already picturing what the aircraft will look like soaring above the clouds. A new rendering of the X-66 from Boeing demonstrates the aircraft’s signature […]

Posted March 7, 2024

Armstrong Flight Research Center

Advanced Air Transport Technology

Aeronautics

Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate

Sustainable Flight Demonstrator

NASA Armstrong Builds Model Wing to Help Advance Unique Design

German Escobar works on a model aircraft wing structure that has two long sides and bars in between, which resembles a mini ladder. He sands the rough edges, uses four vices to secure it, and uses a milling machine he programmed to make precision holes. Escobar is one of the Experimental Fabrication Shop technicians at […]

Posted January 8, 2024