The Future of Flight with NASA, Boeing and Pratt & Whitney

The Boeing Company and Pratt & Whitney have been chosen by NASA to take part in a research programme to examine aircraft designs and push the boundaries of sustainable aviation.

Through NASA’s Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability (AACES) 2050 initiative, the agency asked industry and academia to come up with studies looking at aircraft concepts, key technologies and designs that could offer the transformative solutions needed to secure commercial aviation’s sustainable future by 2050.

NASA issued five awards, worth a total of US$11.5m, to four companies and one university.

These new NASA-funded studies will help the agency identify and select promising aircraft concepts and technologies for further investigations.

Boeing: designs 'from mild to wild’ 

Brian Moran, CSO at The Boeing Company, hopes the programme will “bring out the best” in its teams.

The aviation giant has been selected alongside its subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences, based in Manassas, Virginia, US.

Brian said: “Under the AACES program, we’ll pair our experts with NASA and leading universities to examine aircraft designs that could achieve further fuel efficiency gains, reduced noise and fewer persistent contrails for air travel by 2050.

“Concepts will range from mild to wild, considering among others improved aerodynamics and novel energy systems.

“A bit like concept cars that may not end up in the show room but inspire the art of the possible, these studies bring out the best in our teams and partners.”

Tapping into university expertise

Brian explained how the programme will work, saying: “Aurora will serve as the lead performing organisation alongside a cross-enterprise Boeing team.

“University partners include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Penn State University, and the University of Michigan.

“This work will sit alongside other NASA research programs we are helping to advance, including the X-66 Sustainable Flight Demonstrator and the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstrator.”

Partners, not passengers

The companies selected to take part in the programme are:

• Aurora Flight Sciences, whose team will perform a comprehensive, open-aperture exploration of technologies and aircraft concepts for the 2050 timeframe. This will include examining new alternative aviation fuels, propulsion systems, aerodynamic technologies and aircraft configurations

• Electra, which will explore extending its distributed electric propulsion and its unique aerodynamic design capabilities to “develop innovative wing and fuselage integrations that deliver sustainable aviation focused on enabling community-friendly emission reduction, noise reduction and improved air travel access”, NASA said

• Georgia Institute of Technology will explore sustainability technologies, including alternative fuels, propulsion systems and aircraft configurations. The institute’s team will then look at new aircraft concepts incorporating the selected technologies with their Advanced Technology Hydrogen Electric Novel Aircraft as a starting point 

• JetZero will explore technologies that enable cryogenic, liquid hydrogen to be used as a fuel for commercial aviation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 

• Pratt & Whitney, a division of RTX Corporation, will explore a “broad suite of commercial aviation propulsion technologies targeting thermal and propulsive efficiency improvements to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions”.

NASA’s sustainable aviation vision

NASA is aiming high with the AACES programme, aiming to harness expertise and take sustainable flying to the next level.

Bob Pearce, NASA associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, said: “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 US technological competitiveness in the 2040s, 2050s and beyond.

“As a leader in US sustainable aviation research and development, these awards are one example of how we bring together the best ideas and most innovative concepts from the private sector, academia, research agencies and other stakeholders to pioneer the future of aviation.” 

In 2021, NASA launched its Sustainable Flight National Partnership, focused on technologies that could be incorporated into aircraft by the 2030s.

The partnership’s research and development led to current NASA work including the experimental X-66 Sustainable Flight Demonstrator aircraft, its Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project and the development of more efficient engine cores and processes for the rapid manufacturing of lightweight composite materials. 

NASA said: “The new AACES awards are initiating a similar process, but on a longer timeline, focusing on technologies to help transform aviation beyond SFNP with aircraft that could enter service by 2050.

“The kinds of partnerships NASA develops through SFNP and AACES are critical for the agency to support the US goal of net-zero aviation emissions by 2050 and to help put aviation on a path toward energy resilience.”

Explore the latest edition of Sustainability Magazine and be part of the conversation at our global conference series, Sustainability LIVE.

Discover all our upcoming events and secure your tickets today.

Sustainability Magazine is a BizClik brand