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NASA has unveiled an initial glimpse of its next experimental aircraft, the X-70 Fractal, a highly manoeuvrable research plane designed to test advanced flight-control technologies. The agency expects the aircraft to make its maiden flight within two years.
NASA announced the project on Wednesday (November 4), releasing an AI-generated concept image showing an aircraft with two outward-angled vertical tail fins emerging from swirling smoke.
Although the image offers little indication of the aircraft’s final design, its tail configuration resembles those of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet.
According to NASA, the X-70 will serve as a test platform featuring rapidly reconfigurable flight-control technology. Its modular design will allow researchers to change both external and internal components, creating opportunities to explore aircraft manoeuvrability in ways not previously demonstrated in crewed flight.
“The X-70 Fractal gives NASA a crewed, high-performance platform to test advanced flight-control, manoeuvrability, and other cutting-edge technologies in real flight,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement.
Calling the aircraft part of a new chapter in aeronautics research, Isaacman said NASA expects it to take to the skies within two years.
The X-70 is designed to cruise at Mach 0.75, approximately the speed of a Boeing 737 Classic, and reach altitudes of up to 45,000 feet (13.7 kilometres).
It will have an operational range exceeding 1,726 miles (2,777 kilometres) and be capable of carrying around 2,000 pounds (900 kilogrammes) of experimental equipment, both internally and externally.
NASA said the aircraft would have a maximum takeoff weight of 10,000 pounds (4,535 kilogrammes), making it comparable in weight to the Model 437 Vanguard, an experimental aircraft developed by Scaled Composites and Northrop Grumman.
The concept image of the X-70 also bears some resemblance to the Model 437 Vanguard, although its final configuration has yet to be disclosed.
The new project follows NASA’s ongoing work with the X-59, an experimental aircraft developed to demonstrate quieter supersonic flight.
Unlike conventional aircraft, the X-59 features an unusually long nose and no forward-facing cockpit windscreen. Its pilot relies on an augmented-reality display combining camera footage and sensor data.
The aircraft’s distinctive design is intended to reduce the intensity of sonic booms, potentially helping pave the way for quieter commercial supersonic flights.
NASA said the X-70 would expand its aeronautics research capabilities through experiments involving advanced flight controls and manoeuvrability.
