Partnership between NASA and Boeing aims to help revolutionize aviation for a greener future

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is well-known for its space-related endeavors and projects, but the agency also studies the planet’s climate and makes active efforts to reduce the world’s carbon emissions. 

According to NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, the aviation industry is among the most challenging fields to decarbonize. An astounding 50% of the world’s carbon emissions are produced by single-aisle aircrafts like the Boeing 737, a narrow, smaller kind of plane used for short-haul flights that carries 4 to 300 passengers. 

What’s worse? 

Boeing predicts that demand for single-aisle planes will go up by 40,000 aircrafts from 2035 to 2050, which means the carbon pollution emitted by this particular type of plane will also skyrocket.

This is an environmental issue NASA aims to address by partnering with aerospace company Boeing. As the single-aisle aircraft is one of the most used aircrafts in commercial flights, the two organizations will work on a project that will help transform such planes into a more eco-friendly airliner by developing the sustainable flight demonstrator (SFD).

Through the Funded Space Act Agreement, NASA will contribute USD 425 million over the next seven years, oversee the technical aspects of the project, and provide the needed facilities. Meanwhile, Boeing and its partners will contribute USD 725 million to the project. The two agencies will collaborate in constructing, testing, and flying the SFD in the following years. 

Everything you need to know about the sustainable flight demonstrator (SFD)

The SFD is a full-scale experimental plane with a revolutionary design. It will demonstrate new aviation technologies that could potentially be a blueprint for a new generation of sustainable single-aisle aircrafts.

Characterized by its Transonic Truss-Braced Wing concept, the experimental aircraft will have a long, thin, and light wing with less drag compared to the current design of the single-aisle aircraft. The wing will provide lift for the plane and will be supported by diagonal rods. Moreover, there will be more space under the wing for new engines due to its high-wing design. 

The project aims to take the existing design of single-aisle aircrafts and enhance some of its parts and aspects to be more sustainable. Through demonstrations and tests, the SFD’s technology and innovative design will exhibit lower fuel consumption and 30% less carbon emissions compared to the current model. 

The SFD is set to fly in 2028 from NASA’s main flight facility, Armstrong. According to Bob Pearce, associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA, the flight demonstration is the most crucial stage of the project. 

The outcomes of the SFD’s test and demonstration are vital to the transition from the current, environmentally harmful design of single-aisle aircrafts to its more sustainable version. Boeing’s Chief Technology Officer Todd Citron says the technologies utilized in the SFD program could heavily influence and define the future batches of single-aisle planes. By as early as 2030, the SFD’s design may be adopted by aviation agencies worldwide for greener flights.

The SFD is only one of the several projects under NASA’s Sustainable Flight National Partnership that aims to reduce the aviation industry’s carbon footprint worldwide. It is one of the agency’s efforts to make the White House’s U.S. Aviation Climate Action Plan’s target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 possible. 

NASA and Boeing are confident that investing in the SFD may be one of the first steps towards a greener aviation industry in the years to come.