Boeing awarded sustainable flight verification aircraft contract by NASA
CTOnews.com, January 20 / PRNewswire-FirstCall-Asianet /-- Boeing announced today that NASA has selected Boeing and its industrial team on January 18 to lead the development and flight test of a full-size transonic truss-supported wing (TTBW) verification aircraft.
Boeing said that, combined with expected technological advances in propulsion systems, materials and system architecture, a single-aisle aircraft with a TTBW configuration is expected to reduce fuel consumption and emissions by up to 30 per cent in some missions compared with the most efficient single-aisle aircraft currently available. The goal of the sustainable flight verification aircraft project is to promote the civil aviation industry to meet its net zero emission commitment by 2050.
Greg Hislop, Boeing's chief engineer and executive vice president of engineering, testing and technology, pointed out that the sustainable flight verification aircraft project has the potential to make a significant contribution to the sustainable future. it represents an opportunity to design, manufacture and fly full-scale test aircraft while solving new technical problems.
According to Boeing, the ultra-thin wing supported by the truss has a larger wingspan and larger aspect ratio, which can adapt to the advanced propulsion system limited by the lack of space under the wing in the configuration of today's lower single-wing aircraft. For verification aircraft, Boeing will use components from existing models and integrate with new components.
CTOnews.com has learned that NASA's financial support for the sustainable flight verification aircraft project is $425 million (currently about 2.873 billion yuan), and that the project will also use $725 million (currently about 4.901 billion yuan) from Boeing and its industrial partners to develop verification aircraft and meet the required resource requirements. In addition, Boeing's previous internal investment in sustainable aviation research reached $110 million (currently about 744 million yuan).
