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NASA announces experimental X-70 Fractal aircraft: A 'new beginning for aeronautics'
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NASA unveiled the X-70 Fractal, a crewed experimental aircraft intended as a highly maneuverable test bed for advanced flight-control technology. The agency announced the X-plane on Wednesday, Nov. 4, with an AI-generated image showing canted vertical tail fins emerging from swirling smoke. NASA said the aircraft will explore new ways to control and configure future planes.
Central to the design is a rapidly reconfigurable flight-control system that lets NASA swap internal and external components on the fly. NASA says this modular architecture will let it explore aircraft maneuverability in ways never before demonstrated in crewed flight. The approach should make the X-70 a flexible test platform.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called the X-70 a crewed, high-performance platform for testing advanced flight-control and maneuverability in real flight. He said the aircraft is "just one part of this new beginning for aeronautics" and expects a first flight within two years. "This is why people come to NASA: to build, to learn, and most importantly, to fly," Isaacman said.
NASA also disclosed performance targets: Mach 0.75 cruise speed, roughly that of a Boeing 737 Classic, and altitudes up to 45,000 feet (13.7 kilometers). Range will exceed 1,726 miles (2,777 km, or 1,500 nautical miles). The X-70 will carry about 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) of experimental payloads internally and externally.
Its takeoff weight will be 10,000 pounds (4,535 kilograms), similar to the Scaled Composites and Northrop Grumman Model 437 Vanguard. NASA's X-59 has flown for over a year, using a long nose and augmented-reality screen to reduce sonic booms. Boom Supersonic's X-1, Boeing's F-47 and DARPA's CRANE are also advancing experimental aircraft.
The X-70 is meant to give NASA a reusable crewed test platform for future aeronautics research. Its modular design could speed flight-testing and reduce costs. NASA expects first flight within two years.
