NASA's next X-plane: the X-70 Fractal
From the Space digest for Nov 5, 2026
What happened: NASA announced its next X-plane, the X-70 Fractal — a crewed research aircraft teased by Administrator Jared Isaacman ahead of the announcement. Per the programme readout relayed by NASASpaceflight, the aircraft has roughly a 4.5-tonne take-off weight, Mach 0.75 cruise speed, a 45,000 ft altitude ceiling and 1,500+ nautical miles of range, and is expected to fly for the agency before November 2028.
What's genuinely new: the aircraft's existence, name and full specification are first made public: "rapidly reconfigurable flight-control technology" that NASA says will let it "explore aircraft manoeuvrability in ways never before demonstrated in crewed flight", plus up to 900 kg of experimental payloads in internal and external positions. The only image released so far is AI-generated.
Watch: a real photograph or render from NASA, a flight-test schedule, and any Isaacman elaboration on the programme's goals.
Links: NASASpaceflight (X) · Nov 4, 9:19 PM ET