The US space agency and aerospace giant Boeing have announced they are working together to develop a next-generation airliner with lower carbon emissions.
NASA will invest $425 million in this project over seven years, and Boeing and its partners will invest about $725 million.
Goal: to produce future commercial aircraft that are “more fuel efficient, with benefits for the environment, the commercial airline industry and passengers around the world,” said space agency chief Bill Nelson.
“If we are successful, we could see these technologies in the airplanes that people will take in the 2030s,” he added in a statement on Wednesday.
The agreement calls for NASA and Boeing to build, test and fly a full-size single-aisle demonstrator.
“The technologies presented and tested during the program will inspire future projects and could lead to breakthroughs in aerodynamics and advances in fuel economy,” Boeing said.
According to NASA, engineers will seek to design an aircraft with 30% less fuel burn and emissions compared to today’s most economical single-aisle aircraft.
The space agency plans to complete testing of the program by the late 2020s so the technologies and design can be applied to the next generation of single-aisle aircraft.
According to NASA, single-aisle jets are the most common aircraft in airline fleets and are responsible for almost half of global aviation emissions.
Boeing and NASA plan to test an innovative wing that creates less drag and uses less fuel.