NASA revealed the X-70 Fractal on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at Kennedy Space Center. Administrator Jared Isaacman says the crewed test plane should fly for NASA within two years.
Jared Isaacman has been promising more X-planes since he took over NASA. On Wednesday, he finally put a name on one, and it sounds like something from a geometry class.
NASA introduced the X-70 Fractal on Wednesday, Nov. 4, during the UP.Summit at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, according to an agency news release. It’s a crewed research aircraft with flight controls that can be reconfigured quickly.
“Very pleased to announce our newest X-plane,” Isaacman posted on X that evening. He said it would “research and develop advanced flight control technology far beyond anything tested in a crewed aircraft.”
What NASA didn’t say is who is building it or what it costs.
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What is NASA’s X-70 Fractal?
Picture a flying test bench with a pilot on board. NASA says the X-70 can carry up to 2,000 pounds of experimental payloads, mounted inside the aircraft or on its exterior.
The agency says its flight-control technology will let researchers explore maneuverability “in ways never before demonstrated in crewed flight.” It didn’t say which maneuvers.
“Its modular design and ability to rapidly swap internal and external payloads will keep our teams flying, learning, and moving quickly from one experiment to the next,” Isaacman said in the release.
How big and how fast is the X-70?
NASA lists a takeoff weight of 10,000 pounds. The plane is designed to cruise at Mach .75, about three-quarters of the speed of sound, and climb as high as 45,000 feet.
Its range tops about 1,726 miles, or 1,500 nautical miles, according to NASA. The agency didn’t give a top speed.
NASA’s only picture so far is a “generated image” of a dark shape wrapped in vapor. Tyler Rogoway of The War Zone called it “an impression of what it will look like.”
Who is building the X-70, and what does it cost?
Nobody’s saying. NASA’s release names no manufacturer and no price tag.
Rogoway zeroed in on the “under the NASA banner” wording. He wrote that NASA will likely take delivery from a manufacturer. He also floated a wilder idea, an aircraft “pulled from the classified realm.”
“It is unclear who is building or built Fractal at this time,” he wrote. Isaacman’s post said the X-70 is “joining” NASA’s aeronautics fleet, which hints the airframe may already exist. NASA hasn’t confirmed that.
When will the X-70 fly?
Within two years, if the schedule holds. “We expect her first flight under the NASA banner within the next two years,” Isaacman said.
Laurie Grindle, who directs NASA’s Aeronautics Division, sounded just as eager. “It’s exciting to bring on another X-plane to accelerate and drive aeronautics research,” she said in the release.
The War Zone expects more details at NASA’s Max Power expo and air show, which runs Saturday, Nov. 7, and Sunday, Nov. 8, at Kennedy.
Did Isaacman tease the X-70 ahead of time?
He did, and he clearly enjoyed it. On NASASpaceflight’s The Flame Trench podcast, posted Friday, Oct. 30, he was asked about the SR-71 Blackbird that disappeared from display at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center earlier this year.
“So, we’re just cleaning it, man,” he said, according to The War Zone.
Then he said NASA would announce a new X-plane at Max Power, adding that “it is not the one you’re thinking about.” The reveal landed a few days early, and Blackbird fans will have to keep waiting.
How does the X-70 fit with the X-59 and X-66?
The X-59 is NASA’s current star. It’s built to soften a sonic boom into a quieter “thump,” and it first flew on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, above Palmdale and Edwards, California.
It has since flown more than 40 times, reaching Mach 1.53 and altitudes above 56,000 feet, AIN reported on Oct. 30.
The X-66 had a rougher ride. Boeing planned to rebuild an MD-90 airliner with long, thin, braced wings, backed by $425 million from NASA, AIN reported.
In April 2025, NASA said that work “would pause for later consideration” while Boeing focused on a ground-based testbed.
Isaacman’s post about the X-70 ended with a pledge: “I promise, there will be more.”
For now, the X-70 is a shadowy picture and a spec sheet. If that two-year clock holds, the real thing should be in the air before the end of 2028.
Article compiled and written by Thom Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Clownfish TV newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
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NASA, Cheryl Warner (Nov. 4): The X-70 release and quotes.
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The War Zone, Tyler Rogoway (Nov. 4): The image and builder question.
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The War Zone, Joseph Trevithick (Nov. 2): Isaacman’s podcast tease.
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AIN, Kerry Lynch (Oct. 30): X-59 flight stats.
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AIN, Hanneke Weitering (May 6, 2025): X-66 funding.
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NASA, Robert Margetta (April 24, 2025): The X-66 pause.
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