NASA Funds Firms for Low-Emission Plane Designs
NASA connects government agencies, industry, and academia to develop sustainable aviation technologies.
AACES 2050 is part of NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology project.
NASA is investing $11.5 million in five organisations to develop low-emission aircraft designs under the Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability (AACES) 2050 initiative.
The organisations that received the award are Aurora Flight Sciences, Electra, Georgia Institute of Technology, JetZero, and Pratt & Whitney.
The investment aims to make air travel in the US more sustainable and help the country achieve net-zero aviation emissions by 2050.
“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 U.S. technological competitiveness in the 2040s, 2050s, and beyond,” said Bob Pearce, NASA associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. “As a leader in U.S. 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.”
This project focuses on various ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as using electric engines and hydrogen fuel, as well as improving the design of the planes to make them more energy-efficient. Each organisation works on specific ideas, including advanced propulsion systems and quieter engines.
NASA aims to make air travel more sustainable, with some projects targeting the 2040s and beyond. If successful, the new designs will help slow climate change by reducing the aviation sector's dependence on fossil fuels.
The outcome of the project will depend on how well these technologies can be adopted in the aviation industry.
“The AACES 2050 solicitation drew significant interest from the aviation community and as a result the award process was highly competitive,” said Nateri Madavan, director for NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program. “The proposals selected come from a diverse set of organizations that will provide exciting and wide-ranging explorations of the scenarios, technologies, and aircraft concepts that will advance aviation towards its transformative sustainability goals.”
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Source: NASA
