NASA, Boeing To Fly Truss-braced-wing Demonstrator in 2028 | Aviation International News

Sustainability and Environment

NASA, Boeing To Fly Truss-braced-wing Demonstrator in 2028

The Sustainable Flight Demonstrator partnership between Boeing and NASA aims to cut fuel burn in narrowbody aircraft by 30 percent.

The NASA-Boeing Sustainable Flight Demonstrator will use a high-aspect-ratio, truss-braced wing and advanced conventional engines in an effort to reduce fuel burn in narrowbody aircraft by 30 percent. (Image: NASA)

By Gregory Polek • Senior Editor

January 18, 2023

NASA and Boeing will collaborate on building and test-flying a single-aisle commercial aircraft demonstrator using a truss-braced, high-aspect-ratio wing scheduled for first flight in 2028, the partners said Wednesday. Called the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator (SFD) project, the effort would reduce fuel burn compared with contemporary narrowbodies by 30 percent through aerodynamic, materials, and engine improvements. Of the $725 million needed for the project, NASA will contribute $425 million while Boeing and other partners will absorb the rest of the cost.

Speaking from NASA offices in Washington, D.C., NASA administrator Bill Nelson characterized the demonstrator as a short- to medium-haul airplane that addresses 50 percent of the commercial air transport market. Program leaders hope the testing will help adapt the technologies needed to bring a new narrowbody aircraft to market in the 2030s.

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