NASA Takes Delivery of X-57, First All-Electric X-plane

The X-57 Maxwell, NASA’s first all-electric experimental aircraft, or X-plane – and the agency’s first crewed X-plane in two decades – was delivered by Empirical Systems Aerospace (ESAero) in the first of three configurations as an all-electric aircraft, known as Modification II, or Mod II. X-57’s Mod II vehicle features the replacement of traditional combustion engines on a baseline Tecnam P2006T aircraft with electric cruise motors. The delivery is a major milestone for the project, allowing NASA engineers to begin putting the aircraft through ground tests, to be followed by taxi tests and eventually, flight tests. A goal of the X-57 project is to help develop certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets. NASA will share the aircraft’s electric-propulsion-focused design and airworthiness process with regulators and industry, which will advance certification approaches for aircraft using distributed electric propulsion. The X-57 team is using a “design driver” as a technical challenge, to drive lessons learned and best practices. This design driver includes a 500% increase in high-speed cruise efficiency, zero in-flight carbon emissions, and flight that is much quieter for communities on the ground.