The X-70 is NASA’s next experimental X-plane

Andrew Liszewski is a senior reporter who’s been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2006, but has loved all things electronic since he was a kid.Yesterday NASA announced the latest addition to its X-series of experimental aircraft that have included the Bell X-1 that first broke the sound barrier nearly 80 years ago, and the more recent X-59 quiet supersonic demonstrator. The new X-70 Fractal is designed to be a “high-performance, highly adaptable research platform” that NASA can use as a testbed for the development and testing of next-generation aviation technologies.The agency only released an AI-generated image of the X-70 shrouded in smoke and shadows, but confirmed several of the plane’s capabilities. It will be a crewed aircraft with a cruising speed of Mach .75 that can reach altitudes of up to 45,000 feet and will provide an “operational range exceeding about 1,726 miles.” The X-70 will be able to carry up to 2,000 pounds of experimental equipment either inside or outside the aircraft, and will feature “advanced, rapidly reconfigurable flight-control technology that will allow NASA to explore aircraft maneuverability in ways never before demonstrated in crewed flight.”“The X-70 Fractal gives NASA a crewed, high-performance platform to test advanced flight-control, maneuverability, and other cutting-edge technologies in real flight,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “Its modular design and ability to rapidly swap internal and external payloads will keep our teams flying, learning, and moving quickly from one experiment to the next. We expect her first flight under the NASA banner within the next two years, and X-70 is just one part of this new beginning for aeronautics.”Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Andrew Liszewski