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Artist illustration, shows a sky with the text AAVP screened back and different aircraft in flight.
Artist illustration of the X-59 (vehicle used for the Quesst mission) in flight over water and land.
Artist illustration of an unmanned passenger aircraft preparing to land on the vertiport.

Advanced Air Vehicles Program

Advanced Air Vehicles Program (AAVP) studies, evaluates and develops technologies and capabilities for new aircraft systems, and also explores far-future concepts that hold promise for revolutionary air-travel improvements.

Learn More About AAVP about Advanced Air Vehicles Program

PROGRAM DIRECTOR (PD)

Dr. Nateri Madavan

DEPUTY PD

Dr. James (Jim) Heidmann

AAVP Leadership

Learn more about the leadership for the Advanced Air Vehicles Program.

Photo of Dr. Nateri Madavan

Dr. Nateri Madavan

Director

Dr. James (Jim) Heidmann, Director (Acting) for the Advanced Air Vehicle Program.

Dr. James (Jim) Heidmann

Deputy Director

Projects

AAVP pursues its research goals across these projects.

Artist concept of a hybrid wing body flying above the clouds.

Advanced Air Transport Technology (AATT)

NASA’s vision for advanced fixed-wing transport aircraft of the future features revolutionary energy efficiency and environmental compatibility. The overarching goal of the AATT project is to explore and develop technologies and concepts to enable this vision.

Artist concept of a Low Sonic Boom Demonstrator vehicle may look like while flying above the clouds.

Commercial Supersonic Technology (CST)

Supersonic vehicle research addresses the development of tools, technologies, and knowledge that will help eliminate today's technical barriers to practical commercial supersonic flight.

The X-43A launches from a modified Pegasus booster rocket

Hypersonic Technology (HT)

The HT project focuses on sustaining hypersonic competency for national needs while advancing fundamental hypersonics research. NASA maintains unique specialized facilities and experts who can explore ways to solve the challenges of high-speed flight.

Artist illustration of a TTBW aircraft in flight over a green composite and globe with various plants on the ground.

Hi-Rate Composite Aircraft Manufacturing (HiCAM)

The HiCAM project addresses an aviation industry need for more rapid production of composite aircraft to meet increasing global demand for lightweight transport aircraft.

A cross-cut graphic of a HyTEC engine.

Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC)

The Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core project is working with industry partners to develop small core engine technologies to enable fuel burn reductions, additional use of electric airplane systems through power extracted from the engine, and advance engine operability and compatibility with sustainable aviation fuels.

Advanced Air Mobility, with many vehicle concepts and potential uses in both local and intraregional applications.

Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology (RVLT)

With their unique ability to take off and land from any spot, and hover in place, vertical lift vehicles are increasingly being contemplated for use in new ways that go far beyond those considered when thinking of traditional helicopters. We invest in development of cutting-edge technology and tools with new focus on Advanced Air Mobility.

Quesst Mission

Interested in flying to your next destination in half the time? NASA's Quesst mission is to lead a government-industry team to collect data that could make commercial supersonic flight over land possible, dramatically reducing air travel time in the United States or anywhere in the world. The centerpiece of the mission is the X-59 aircraft.

Learn More About the Quesst Mission about Quesst Mission
Artist illustration of the X-59 in flight over land against bright blue skies.

Other Aeronautics topics

Artist illustration of the X-59 in flight over a surbuban neighborhood.

Research about flying faster than the speed of sound.

Aerospace Cognitive Engineering Lab Rapid Automation Test Environment; (ACEL-RATE) in N262 showing out-the-window views of San Francisco for UAM UTM Ride Quality Simulation project.

Stories about pioneering the frontiers of 21st century flight.

The Moog SureFly aircraft hovers above Cincinnati Municipal Airport during an acoustic hover test.

All about new ways to get from here to there in the air.

In this image, captured using data from a wind-tunnel test, the red and orange areas represent higher drag, and the green and bl

Learn about research to make aviation more sustainable.

Airplane outside it's gate at the airport.

Read about how NASA is opening up the sky for all.