Meet the son of Concorde: NASA's supersonic X-Plane design passes 'significant milestone' and could take off in 2021
- Lockheed Martin has been working on the preliminary design for such the craft
- NASA has completed preliminary design review, and will soon seek proposals
- Space agency is looking for plans to develop, build, and flight test an X-plane
- NASA plans to award contract in early 2018, and is aiming for 2021 flight tests
In what’s said to be a ‘significant milestone’ for supersonic passenger flight, NASA has completed the preliminary design review of its low-boom X-plane.
The Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) design aims to reduce the sonic boom that occurs as these aircraft move faster than the speed of sound, with hopes to bring it down to a soft ‘thump’ to allow for flights over land.
Experts from NASA and Lockheed Martin now say the QueSST design could meet these requirements, and say flight tests could begin as early as 2021.
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In what’s said to be a ‘significant milestone’ for supersonic passenger flight, NASA has completed the preliminary design review of its low-boom X-plane. Experts from NASA and Lockheed Martin say the QueSST design could reduce the sonic boom to a 'thump'
Lockheed Martin partnered with NASA as lead contractor in February 2016.
Its scale model for the Low Boom Flight Demonstration (LBFD) experimental plane was put through the 8-by 6-foot supersonic wind tunnel at NASA’s Glenn Research Center last month, and the space agency has now completed the preliminary design review.
The design will be finalized over the next few months, and will undergo a static inlet performance test and low-speed wind tunnel test.
And, later this year, NASA plans to solicit proposals and award a contract to build the first piloted, single-engine craft.
‘Managing a project like this is all about moving from one milestone to the next,’ said David Richwine, manager for the preliminary design effort under NASA’s Commercial Supersonic Technology Project.
‘Our strong partnership with Lockheed Martin helped get us to this point.
'We’re now one step closer to building an actual X-plane.’
While Lockheed Martin has been working on the preliminary design, with hopes to move on to build the demonstrator, NASA has opened the door for other companies to submit their own designs as well, according to Aviation Week.
The space agency is hoping to achieve a sonic boom 60 dBA lower than other supersonic aircraft, such as Concorde, according to Aviation Week.
NASA plans to release the full request for proposals in August, following the recent draft request.
The design will be finalized over the next few months, and will undergo a static inlet performance test and low-speed wind tunnel test
The space agency is looking for plans to develop, build, and flight test an X-plane, and will award a contract in 2018.
At the end of June, Lockheed Martin wrapped up its 17-month, $20 million contract with NASA for the preliminary design of the low-boom demonstrator concept.
The design was be put through a four-day review.
And, bidders will have the option to use this for the demonstrator’s detailed design, according to Aviation Week.
Lockheed Martin, however, is hoping to secure the top spot.
‘We are ready to go on building that demonstrator,’ said Rob Weiss, Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs executive vice president and general manager, at the AIAA Aviation 2017 forum, Aviation Week reports.
‘We feel we have a technological advantage in the amount of investment we have made in the tools and the vehicle itself.’
It’s been decades since NASA has worked on a manned supersonic X-plane, and after the contract is awarded in 2018, the winning team will undergo critical design review in 2019 to bring the plan closer to life.
Then, the agency plans to see the first flight tests in the first quarter of 2021.
For the most part, the demonstrator tests will take place across two phases at the Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, and culminating at the base housing at Edwards AFB.
The first will focus on aircraft build, checkout, and supersonic flight envelope expansion set for late 2021, followed by efforts focusing on low-boom acoustic validation, according to Aviation Week.
Then, in 2022, researchers will assess the ground signature of the demonstrator, and the effects on atmospheric and flight conditions from the boom.
According to Aviation Week, NASA is hoping the low-boom X-plane will support changes in FAA regulations, to allow supersonic flight over land.
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