NASA has unveiled a new experimental aircraft designed to perform manoeuvres never before attempted by a piloted plane, but the space agency is keeping much of its design under wraps.
Named X-70 Fractal, the aircraft was announced on Wednesday, November 4, during the UP.Summit at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The agency said the plane will be capable of flying at around 575mph and reaching an altitude of 45,000 feet, higher than most commercial passenger aircraft.
Unlike conventional aircraft, the X-70 will have a flight-control system that engineers can quickly modify to test different ways of controlling a plane in the air.
It will also carry up to 2,000 pounds (907kg) of experimental equipment, which researchers can replace without having to build a completely new aircraft.
However, NASA has released only an AI-generated image showing a dark, fighter jet-like aircraft partly hidden by clouds.
The agency has not disclosed the manufacturer, development cost or final design of the plane.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the X-70 would allow researchers to test technologies that have not previously been demonstrated in crewed flight.
The aircraft is expected to make its first flight under NASA’s programme within the next two years, although no exact date has been announced.
It will have a takeoff weight of around 10,000 pounds and a flying range exceeding 1,726 miles.
The X-70 joins NASA’s long-running experimental aircraft programme, which produced the Bell X-1, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier in 1947.
NASA is also testing the X-59, an aircraft developed to reduce the noise produced during supersonic flight.
