Advanced Air Vehicles Program

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An aircraft resting on a section of runway as seen from the front, with its nose facing the camera. The early morning sky is orange in the background.

March 18, 2026

NASA’s X-59 experimental aircraft is preparing for its second flight, a step that will set the pace for more flight…

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An artist’s concept image shows the square, gray rooftop of a hospital building with three concept aircraft sitting on top. One aircraft is painted dark blue, and two are painted with red and white paint schemes. Each aircraft has several unique propellors and wings to showcase that these aircraft can take off and land on short runways or vertically. The words “Century Medical Center” – in red – sit below the rooftop landing pad with several rows of windows underneath. In the background, there are several rows of trees, buildings, and parking garages, to show that this building is inside of a city.

February 20, 2026

New kinds of aircraft taking to the skies could mean unfamiliar sounds overhead — and where you’re hearing…

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February 12, 2026

NASA completed the first flight test of a scale-model wing designed to improve laminar flow, reducing drag and lowering fuel costs for future commercial aircraft. The flight took…

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The SpaceWorks X-60 rocket is pictured in flight in the upper atmosphere, with the curvature of the Earth below it.

February 1, 2026

While NASA is working with U.S. aviation to explore commercial supersonic technologies, the agency is also looking forward…

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A hybrid engine, with its intake facing the camera, is mounted into a large, white scaffolding system. In the scaffolding structure to the hybrid engine’s left is a monitoring station in a modified shipping container. A series of pipes and wires to the engine’s right and above it, connecting the unit to the systems that provide it with fuel and collect data on its operations.

January 27, 2026

To an untrained eye, the aircraft engine sitting outside of a Cincinnati facility in December might have looked like…

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NASA Tests Technology Offering Potential Fuel Savings for Commercial Aviation

January 22, 2026

NASA researchers successfully completed a high-speed taxi test of a scale model of a design that could make…

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Two maintainers in white protective suits, air tanks, masks, rubber gloves, and boots check NASA’s X-59 hydrazine system during a hydrazine safety check at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. The sky is slightly overcast, with some sunlight rays beginning to peek out from behind the clouds. The aircraft has a panel open, a ladder positioned on the right side of its fuselage, and air ducts extending from the aircraft into a service cart.

September 13, 2025

As NASA’s one-of-a-kind X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft approaches first flight, its team is mapping every step from…

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NASA test pilot Nils Larson walks around an F-15B aircraft at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. He wears a green G-suit over his tan flight suit and looks up at the nose of the aircraft. The F-15 canopy is open, and support crew stand near the aircraft as the pilots walks around. The aircraft sits higher than the pilot, allowing a partial view of the area on the opposite side.

July 26, 2025

In a stretch of California’s Mojave Desert, NASA conducted a full-scale “dress rehearsal” to prepare how it will…

NASA’s X-59 Prepares for Second Flight

NASA Investigates How People Respond to Air Taxi Noise

NASA Completes First Flight of Laminar Flow Scaled Wing Design

NASA Aims to Advance Hypersonic Flight Testing with New Awards

NASA, GE Aerospace Hybrid Engine System Marks Successful Test

NASA Tests Technology Offering Potential Fuel Savings for Commercial Aviation

NASA’s X-59 Moves Toward First Flight at Speed of Safety

NASA Rehearses How to Measure X-59’s Noise Levels