NASA Announces Experimental X-70 Fractal Aircraft, but Details Are Scarce
NASA, the US space and aeronautics agency, announced a new experimental aircraft called the X-70 Fractal on November 4. Little is known about its design or development timeline, though NASA's chief says it could fly within two years.
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman announced a new experimental aircraft, the X-70 Fractal, on November 4 at the UP.Summit, held at the US space agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It is the latest in NASA's series of "X-planes", which are used to test new aviation technologies. Isaacman said the aircraft could take flight within two years, but many details about its development remain unknown.
What NASA said
Isaacman said the X-70 Fractal gives NASA a crewed, high-performance platform for testing advanced flight-control, maneuverability and other technologies in real flight. According to him, the modular design and the ability to quickly swap internal and external payloads will let teams move rapidly from one experiment to the next.
NASA's press release describes the aircraft as crewed. It is designed to cruise at Mach 0.75, reach a maximum altitude of up to 45,000 feet, and have an operational range beyond 1,726 miles (2,778 kilometers). Its takeoff weight is planned at 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms), and it would be able to carry up to 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms) of experimental payloads, both internally and externally.
Open questions
The announcement did not name an aircraft manufacturer that might be helping the agency develop the plane. The image of the X-70 attached to the press release appears to be AI-generated: it shows a dark silhouette resembling a military fighter jet, obscured by smoke. Ars Technica has asked NASA for more details.
According to Aviation Week, another X-plane is expected to be announced at the UP.Summit on November 6. That would coincide with a scheduled announcement by US President Donald Trump at the event.
