NASA announces the experimental X-70 Fractal aircraft with a reconfigurable control system

NASA has presented a project for a crewed experimental aircraft, the X-70 Fractal. Its key feature is a rapidly reconfigurable flight control system that allows settings to be changed for different tests. The first flight is planned within two years; the appearance of the finished aircraft has not yet been revealed.

Otabek YusupovFirst published on tafs uz 10 November 2026 at 05:112 min read

The key facts

NASA has announced a crewed experimental aircraft, the X-70 Fractal, with a rapidly reconfigurable flight control system
Takeoff weight of about 4.5 tonnes, speed of up to Mach 0.75, altitude of up to 13.7 km, range of more than 2,778 km
The first flight is expected within two years; so far only a computer-generated image has been shown

What NASA announced

NASA has unveiled a new crewed experimental aircraft, the X-70 Fractal, designed for testing aviation technologies. The upcoming presentation was previously announced by the agency's head, Jared Isaacman, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, after which NASA itself revealed the project details. The agency describes the aircraft as “a crewed, rapidly reconfigurable research platform for developing advanced aviation technologies”.

The key feature is a flexible control system

The key distinction of the X-70 is its rapidly reconfigurable flight control system. According to the agency's description, it will allow NASA to explore the maneuverability of aircraft “in ways not previously demonstrated in crewed flight”. The practical point of this approach is that engineers will be able to quickly change control settings between test flights: this makes it possible to study the aircraft's behavior in the air during different maneuvers and to test new technical solutions without deeply reworking the plane for each task.

Specifications and what remains unknown

NASA has disclosed the main parameters: takeoff weight of about 4.5 tonnes, speed of up to Mach 0.75, a ceiling of 13.7 kilometers, and a range of more than 2,778 kilometers. The agency expects to conduct the first flight within two years. So far, however, only a computer-generated image showing the outlines of the future aircraft has been released — what the finished machine will look like is unknown. NASA also has not clarified whether military applications are planned: for now, it is exclusively an experimental platform for flight research, not a fighter jet.