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 on January 18. 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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