NASA just added a new aircraft to its historic X-plane family, one that’s designed to serve different research programs in succession without the need to build a different vehicle each time.
The space agency announced the latest addition to its experimental plane series on Wednesday during the UP.Summit at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The X-70 Fractal is a reusable, rapidly configurable research platform designed to test advanced flight-control systems, allowing NASA “to explore aircraft maneuverability in ways never before demonstrated in crewed flight,” according to a statement.
“For decades, NASA Aeronautics has used X-planes to develop technologies that advance aviation,” Laurie Grindle, director of the Aeronautics Division within NASA’s Research and Technology Mission Directorate, said in a statement. “It’s exciting to bring on another X-plane to accelerate and drive aeronautics research.”
NASA expects to fly the X-70 for the first time within the next two years.
Designed for adaptability
Compared to NASA’s other experimental aircraft, which are built around specific research objectives, the X-70 is intended to accommodate different experiments and technologies. This allows researchers to investigate multiple areas of aviation without developing a new aircraft for every experiment.
The crewed aircraft’s defining feature is its modular design that allows experimental payloads, carried both internally and externally, to be swapped between research programs. It’s also equipped with rapidly reconfigurable flight-control technology, enabling engineers to test different aerodynamic concepts within the same vehicle.
“The X-70 Fractal gives NASA a crewed, high-performance platform to test advanced flight-control, maneuverability, and other cutting-edge technologies in real flight,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman in the statement. “Its modular design and ability to rapidly swap internal and external payloads will keep our teams flying, learning, and moving quickly from one experiment to the next.”
The aircraft can carry up to 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms) of payload in internal and external locations. With a takeoff weight of 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms), the X-70 is designed to cruise at Mach 0.75 and reach altitudes of up to 45,000 feet (13,700 meters).
The X-plane legacy
The X-70 joins a long line of experimental aircraft that have helped push the boundaries of aviation. Dating back to the 1940s, the X-plane program is one of the longest-running experimental aviation research efforts in the U.S.
The purpose of the program has been to push the boundaries of what aircraft can do by building experimental vehicles to test new technologies, aerodynamic designs, and flight concepts that would otherwise be too risky or difficult to introduce directly into conventional aircraft.
Some notable members of the X-plane family include the Bell X-1, which first broke the sound barrier in 1947, and the X-15 hypersonic research aircraft. NASA is currently carrying out a series of test flights for its X-59 quiet supersonic jet—a plane capable of breaking the sound barrier while producing an audible thump rather than a sonic boom.
These aircraft serve as flying laboratories where engineers can test new technologies and unconventional designs that could eventually shape how planes are built.
