In the decades to come, aviation should not change its form: a fuselage and two wings. But what about on-board technology? According to the American Space Agency (Nasa), the efficiency of machines should increase as their emissions decrease. This is also the whole challenge of the AACES 2050 initiative (for Advanced Aircraft Concepts for a Sustainable Environment).
It allows companies and academic structures to propose new ideas in the industry with the aim of winning a grant, indicates TechCrunch. A total amount of $11.5 million is thus distributed between five solutions selected by NASA. This financial contribution aims to accelerate the project by financing feasibility studies or the construction of a proof of concept.
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An initiative to strengthen American technological competitiveness
“Through initiatives such as AACES, NASA is able to harness a wide range of perspectives on how to increase aircraft efficiency, reduceimpact of aviation on the environment and strengthen the technological competitiveness of the United States in the 2040s, 2050s and beyond”details Bob Pearce, NASA’s associate administrator for the direction of the aeronautics research mission, in a press release.
If AACES is a new way of financing the future of airliners, NASA has already used similar approaches to promote innovation in this sector. In 2021, a national sustainable flight partnership was established with the desire to integrate new technologies into aircraft in the 2030s. This notably benefited the X-66 sustainable aircraft project.
This Tuesday, November 12, NASA unveiled the five projects winning an AACES grant. The most advanced companies are Electra and JetZero. The first already has a prototype of its electric plane. This time it is about developing innovative wing and fuselage integrations which should help reduce emissions and noise generated by its aircraft.
Studies on propulsion systems and alternative fuels
JetZero, for its part, has chosen another energy source: liquid hydrogen. If its technology reduces greenhouse gas emissions, it must face a serious disadvantage: the storage of hydrogen at -253°C. NASA scholarship will be used to find out which wing structure (mixed or tubular) will be most suitable for accommodating the hydrogen tanks within the aircraft.
Other selected projects include Pratt & Whitney’s work on alternative propulsion systems, Georgia Institute of Technology’s research on alternative fuels.
Finally, NASA also accepted the rather vague proposal from Aurora Flight Sciences (a Boeing group company) in order to carry out “a comprehensive, ‘open-air’ exploration of aircraft technologies and concepts for 2050”. This should involve studying different aspects of aircraft: from fuels to propulsion systems, aerodynamics or aircraft configuration.
