NASA has awarded a total of $11.5 million to five organizations to develop sustainable aircraft designs.
The agency said Tuesday it will fund studies by four companies and one university through its Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability, or AACES, 2050 initiative. The commissioned studies involve aircraft concepts, technologies and designs with the potential to boost sustainable commercial aviation by 2050.
NASA-Funded Sustainable Aircraft Studies
The institutions that will receive funding from NASA have until mid-2026 to finish their studies. The five awardees and their plans are:
- Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing Company, will focus on alternative fuels, propulsion systems, aerodynamic technologies and aircraft configurations.
- Electra will utilize its distributed electric propulsion and aerodynamic design capabilities to develop innovative wing and fuselage integrations.
- Georgia Institute of Technology will study alternative fuels, propulsion systems and aircraft configurations then utilize their Advanced Technology Hydrogen Electric Novel Aircraft to develop aircraft concepts.
- JetZero will study the use of cryogenic, liquid hydrogen as fuel for commercial aviation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Pratt and Whitney, a division of RTX Corporation, will explore various propulsion technologies to enhance thermal and propulsive efficiency, aiming to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
“Through initiatives like AACES, NASA is positioned to harness a broad set of perspectives about how to further increase aircraft efficiency, reduce aviation’s environmental impact and enhance U.S. technological competitiveness in the 2040s, 2050s and beyond,” said Bob Pearce, associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA.
Nateri Madavan, director of Advanced Air Vehicles Program at NASA, added, “The proposals selected come from a diverse set of organizations that will provide exciting and wide-ranging explorations of the scenarios, technologies and aircraft concepts that will advance aviation towards its transformative sustainability goals.”
