How Boeing and NASA Propel Sustainable Aviation Forward

The Boeing Company and Pratt & Whitney have been chosen by NASA to participate in a research programme aimed at exploring innovative aircraft designs and pushing the boundaries of sustainable aviation.

This engagement is part of NASA's Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability (AACES) 2050 initiative.

As part of the initiative, NASA called on industry and academia to conceptualise aircraft technologies and designs that will transform commercial aviation's environmental footprint by 2050.

Within this framework, NASA has allocated US$11.5m spread across five awards towards four companies and one university.

These funds are intended to bolster studies that will help NASA identify and further explore promising aircraft concepts and technologies.

Boeing: Designs 'from mild to wild’ 

Brian Moran, CSO at The Boeing Company, hopes the programme will “bring out the best” in its teams.

Boeing, along with its subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences based in Manassas, Virginia, will be diving deep into a myriad of designs "from mild to wild", to use Brian's words.

Brian says: “Under the AACES programme, we’ll pair our experts with NASA and leading universities to examine aircraft designs that could achieve further fuel efficiency gains, reduced noise and fewer persistent contrails for air travel by 2050.

“Concepts will range from mild to wild, considering among others improved aerodynamics and novel energy systems.

“A bit like concept cars that may not end up in the show room but inspire the art of the possible, these studies bring out the best in our teams and partners.”

Leveraging academic expertise

Brian explains how the programme will work, saying: “Aurora will serve as the lead performing organisation alongside a cross-enterprise Boeing team.

“University partners include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Penn State University, and the University of Michigan.

“This work will sit alongside other NASA research programs we are helping to advance, including the X-66 Sustainable Flight Demonstrator and the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstrator.”

Collaboration key to meeting goals

The companies selected to take part in the programme are:

• Aurora Flight Sciences, whose team will perform a comprehensive, open-aperture exploration of technologies and aircraft concepts for the 2050 timeframe. This will include examining new alternative aviation fuels, propulsion systems, aerodynamic technologies and aircraft configurations
  
• Electra, which will explore extending its distributed electric propulsion and its unique aerodynamic design capabilities to “develop innovative wing and fuselage integrations that deliver sustainable aviation focused on enabling community-friendly emission reduction, noise reduction and improved air travel access”, NASA said
• Georgia Institute of Technology will explore sustainability technologies, including alternative fuels, propulsion systems and aircraft configurations. The institute’s team will then look at new aircraft concepts incorporating the selected technologies with their Advanced Technology Hydrogen Electric Novel Aircraft as a starting point 
• JetZero will explore technologies that enable cryogenic, liquid hydrogen to be used as a fuel for commercial aviation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 
  
• Pratt & Whitney, a division of RTX Corporation, will explore a “broad suite of commercial aviation propulsion technologies targeting thermal and propulsive efficiency improvements to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions”.

NASA's vision for a greener future

NASA is aiming high with the AACES programme, aiming to harness expertise and take sustainable flying to the next level.

Bob Pearce, NASA’s Associate Administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, emphasises the importance of initiatives like AACES in achieving environmental and technological advancements in US aviation.

He says: “Through initiatives like AACES, NASA is positioned to harness a broad set of perspectives about how to further increase aircraft efficiency, reduce aviation’s environmental impact and enhance US technological competitiveness in the 2040s, 2050s and beyond.

“As a leader in US sustainable aviation research and development, these awards are one example of how we bring together the best ideas and most innovative concepts from the private sector, academia, research agencies and other stakeholders to pioneer the future of aviation.” 

In 2021, NASA introduced its Sustainable Flight National Partnership, centred on integrating new technologies into next-generation aircraft.

Building on these efforts, the AACES programme represents a further extension of NASA’s commitment to support the US goal of achieving net zero aviation emissions by 2050 and setting the industry on a path towards greater energy resilience.

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