VIVAERO

NASA partners with Electra to develop sustainable airliners

NASA has awarded Electra.aero a significant contract to develop key technologies and aircraft concepts for next-generation commercial airliners, which could enter service by mid-century.

This award is part of NASA’s Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability (AACES) 2050 initiative, aimed at strengthening US leadership in decarbonising aviation.

John Langford founded Electra in 2020 with a mission to lead in the development of sustainable aviation technologies. Langford, who previously founded Aurora Flight Sciences in 1989 (acquired by Boeing in 2017), has steered Electra to notable achievements. In 2021, Electra developed a 150-kW hybrid-electric aircraft propulsion system and began testing it in 2023 aboard the company’s two-passenger Ultra Short prototype aircraft. This prototype integrates proprietary aerodynamic designs and distributed hybrid-electric propulsion to achieve ultra-short takeoff and landing in distances as short as 150 feet.

Electra is currently developing a nine-passenger version of the Ultra Short for introduction into passenger and cargo service later this decade. To date, Electra has secured over 2,000 aircraft orders from 52 airline customers.

The broader focus of AACES is to develop technologies and aircraft concepts that significantly reduce carbon emissions from commercial aircraft. Electra’s efforts are supported by a team including American Airlines, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment, and the University of Michigan Department of Aerospace Engineering.

The team will be led by Alejandra Uranga, Electra’s chief engineer for research and future concepts. Uranga, who serves on the University of Southern California’s Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department faculty, previously co-led a NASA N+3 programme while a research engineer at MIT.

“Being selected by NASA for AACES is an important achievement for Electra,” said Uranga. “It validates our unique concepts and their potential scalability. We are honored with this opportunity from NASA to step up to the major leagues and help build a sustainable future for air transportation.”

“This work is part of the research NASA conducts under its Advanced Air Vehicles Program,” said Barbara Esker, deputy administrator for programmes under the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This new collaboration will help NASA and the private sector deliver new technologies to fulfil our mutual goal of cleaner skies in the decades ahead.”

www.nasa.gov