NASA’s X-70 Fractal will give researchers a crewed test platform for rapidly reconfigurable flight controls, allowing studies of maneuvering capabilities the agency says have not been demonstrated in crewed flight.
NASA announced the aircraft at the UP.Summit at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Nov. 4. The agency says the X-70’s controls can be reconfigured quickly. It can carry up to 2,000 pounds of experimental payloads inside or outside the aircraft. NASA identified the image accompanying its announcement as generated.
NASA lists the aircraft’s takeoff weight at 10,000 pounds and its planned cruise speed at Mach 0.75. NASA gives its maximum altitude as 45,000 feet; the agency says its range exceeds an approximate 1,726 miles (1,500 nautical miles).
NASA places the X-70 within an experimental-aircraft program that has included the Bell X-1, X-15 and X-59. The agency says the X-1 broke the sound barrier in 1947; it describes the X-15 as a hypersonic research aircraft and the X-59 as a quiet supersonic demonstrator.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, “We expect her first flight under the NASA banner within the next two years.” The announcement did not give an exact flight date.
