From Wright Wing-Warping to X-70: What NASA's New X-Plane Builds On

NASA's new X-70 Fractal is a crewed research aircraft meant to test flight-control technology that the agency says will let it explore maneuverability "in ways never before demonstrated in crewed flight." The idea of reshaping an aircraft in flight is not new, though. It traces back to the Wright brothers and to an earlier NASA test jet, the X-53.

NASA announced the X-70 on Nov. 4, 2026, at the UP.Summit at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This piece looks at the research behind it and at what is still unclear, using reporting from The Aviationist and Ars Technica.

What the X-70 is designed to do

According to NASA's description, as reported by The Aviationist and Ars Technica, the X-70 is a crewed, high-performance platform with a modular design. Internal and external payloads can be swapped quickly, so one experiment can follow another.

The published specifications say it is designed to cruise at Mach 0.75 and reach up to 45,000 feet. Its operational range is beyond 1,726 miles. Takeoff weight is 10,000 pounds, and up to 2,000 pounds of that can be experimental payloads, carried inside or outside the airframe.

Two ideas in flight-control research

The Aviationist names two approaches that are a focus of current research. NASA has not said whether either will fly on the X-70.

Shape adaptation. This is usually described as morphing wing technology that replaces mechanical ailerons and flaps. Instead of moving separate hinged surfaces, the wing itself changes shape.

Active flow control. This approach would replace traditional flight controls with pressurized jets of air. The jets steer the aircraft by changing the pressure distribution on aerodynamic surfaces. The Aviationist notes that DARPA's uncrewed X-65 CRANE is meant to test this concept. DARPA says that aircraft is being developed to fly without traditional, exterior-moving flight controls.

A timeline from Kitty Hawk to the X-70

• Dec. 17, 1903: Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first successful powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Their wing-warping technique, which twisted the wing to control the aircraft, later inspired NASA research.
• Nov. 15, 2002: The X-53 Active Aeroelastic Wing, a modified F/A-18, first flew. It used aerodynamic forces to twist its wings, an update of the Wrights' concept. NASA Armstrong said the flight came just months before the 100-year anniversary of the Wrights' achievement.
• May 15, 2023: DARPA announced that its X-65 received its official designation. The agency described it as an experimental uncrewed aircraft that maneuvers by controlling the air flow around it.
• Nov. 4, 2026: NASA announced the X-70 Fractal.

What is still unknown

Several basic questions remain open. The Aviationist says it is unclear which technologies the X-70 will carry. Ars Technica reported that NASA's announcement did not name an aircraft manufacturer helping to develop the plane, and that much about its design and development schedule is unknown. Ars said it asked NASA for more details.

The aircraft's appearance is also uncertain. NASA released an image of the X-70 labeled "Generated Content." Ars described it as apparently AI-generated, showing a dark silhouette obscured by smoke. The Aviationist said the label leaves open whether the features shown are real or a notional design.

Why it matters

For most readers, the X-70 will not change daily life soon. It is a research aircraft, and the sources describe no link to passenger travel. What it could change is the pace of testing. NASA says the plane's modular payload system is meant to speed up experiments, and that the aim is to accelerate testing of emerging technologies and advance the next generation of American aviation.

The X-70 also continues a long pattern. Laurie Grindle, director of the Aeronautics Division within NASA's Research and Technology Mission Directorate, said NASA Aeronautics has used X-planes for decades to develop technologies that advance aviation. A crewed test aircraft would let pilots evaluate new control systems in real flight, which the X-65 does not do because it is uncrewed.

What comes next

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said he expects the X-70 to make its first flight under the NASA banner within the next two years. He called the aircraft one part of a new beginning for aeronautics and said more X-planes will follow. NASA has not yet disclosed which experiments will fly first.

Earlier on Around Prague: NASA Unveils X-70 Fractal, a Crewed X-Plane Built to Carry 2,000 Pounds of Tests

Read next
NASA Unveils X-70 Fractal, a Crewed X-Plane Built to Carry 2,000 Pounds of Tests
U.S. Photo Shows China's Reusable Space Plane Joined to a Mystery Craft
NASA Plans Faster, Cheaper Picks for Space Science Missions: What Changes

Around Prague, based on reporting by Ars Technica, The Aviationist