Aeronautics is a grant from NASA that funds research and development to transform aviation for the 21st century.

Managed by NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD), the program supports projects across four major areas: high-speed commercial flight through the Quesst mission and X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft, Advanced Air Mobility for new air transportation markets using revolutionary aircraft designs, the Sustainable Flight National Partnership to develop next-generation airliners using up to 30 percent less fuel, and future airspace and safety innovations working with the Federal Aviation Administration.

NASA's aeronautics heritage dates to the 1915 National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, and today every U.S. commercial aircraft and air traffic control facility incorporates NASA-developed technology. The program supports research grants, student competitions, and industry partnerships.

Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) International Space Station To Protect Artemis II Astronauts, NASA Experts Keep Eyes on Sun NASA’s Artemis II Moon Mission Daily Agenda Track NASA’s Artemis II Mission in Real Time Upcoming Launches and Landings Communicating with Missions James Webb Space Telescope International Space Station Earth Science Researchers Asteroids, Comets & Meteors The Search for Life in the Universe Astrophysics & Space Science Biological & Physical Sciences Human Space Travel Research Technology Transfer & Spinoffs Technology Living in Space Manufacturing and Materials For Colleges and Universities Requests for Exhibits, Artifacts, Speakers & Flyovers Upcoming Launches & Landings NASA Brand & Usage Guidelines NASA’s X-59 Prepares for Second Flight Asteroid Bennu’s Rugged Surface Baffled NASA, We Finally Know Why NASA Discovers Crash of Extreme Stars in Unexpected Site Ice to Fuel: NASA Tests Technology for Refueling Landers La NASA refuerza Artemis: añade una misión y perfecciona su arquitectura general NASA Strengthens Artemis: Adds Mission, Refines Overall Architecture Wave of Dust Rolls Through Texas A Bit of Gray on an Emerald Isle Cañon Fiord’s Whirling Waters Asteroid Bennu’s Rugged Surface Baffled NASA, We Finally Know Why To Protect Artemis II Astronauts, NASA Experts Keep Eyes on Sun NASA Discovers Crash of Extreme Stars in Unexpected Site Two Observatories, One Cosmic Eye: Hubble and Euclid View Cat’s Eye Nebula NASA’s Webb Examines Cranium Nebula NASA’s X-59 Prepares for Second Flight Asteroid Bennu’s Rugged Surface Baffled NASA, We Finally Know Why Hail Yeah!

NASA Researchers Use Volunteer Observations for Hail Estimates NASA’s X-59 Prepares for Second Flight NASA Selects Finalists in Student Aircraft Maintenance Competition Aeronautics Transformations Wave of Dust Rolls Through Texas Artifacts From NASA’s Webb, Parker Solar Probe on View at Smithsonian Ice to Fuel: NASA Tests Technology for Refueling Landers Join the Artemis Mission to the Moon NASA Selects Finalists in Student Aircraft Maintenance Competition Artifacts From NASA’s Webb, Parker Solar Probe on View at Smithsonian From Cabbages to Countdowns: NASA Marks 100 Years of Modern Rocketry Agenda diaria de la misión a la Luna de Artemis II de la NASA La NASA refuerza Artemis: añade una misión y perfecciona su arquitectura general Últimos preparativos para la primera misión tripulada a la Luna con la campaña Artemis de la NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate NASA’s origins trace back to 1915 with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, which soon established its people and facilities as the world’s leading home for aeronautics research.

Today, every U.S. commercial aircraft and air traffic control facility incorporates NASA-developed technology. That heritage continues at NASA, where the first “A” stands for Aeronautics, and the efforts to safely and sustainably transform aviation for the 21st century are managed by the agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD).

Learn More About Aeronautics Research at NASA about Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate NASA’s X-59 Prepares for Second Flight NASA Invites Media to Learn About Upcoming X-59 Test Flights NASA Selects Finalists in Student Aircraft Maintenance Competition About Low Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD) Project About Integrated Aviation Systems Program (IASP) Aeronautics Transformations About Subsonic Vehicle Technologies and Tools Project Your next bingeworthy series is right here.

Enjoy this collection of videos that help tell the story of how NASA’s Aeronautics Research Directorate is transforming aviation for the 21st century. See the ARMD Video Playlist NASA Aeronautics – A Vision for Aviation in the 21st Century NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate is working to enable industry to introduce transformative options for future air travel in at least four major areas.

High-Speed Commercial Flight Quesst is NASA's mission to show the X-59 can fly supersonic without generating loud sonic booms and survey what people hear when it flies overhead. Reaction to the quieter sonic "thumps" will be shared with regulators who will then consider writing new rules to lift the ban on faster-than-sound flight over land.

Advanced Air Mobility is NASA's mission to help emerging aviation markets safely develop an air transportation system that moves people and cargo between places previously not served or underserved by aviation, using revolutionary new aircraft that are only just now becoming possible thanks to converging technologies.

Under the Sustainable Flight National Partnership, NASA is leading federal agencies and industry to accelerate the development of economically and environmentally sustainable technologies. The goal is to enable globally competitive next generation airliners using up to 30% less fuel.

Future Airspace and Safety NASA is working with the Federal Aviation Administration and others to transform air traffic management systems to safely accommodate the growing demand of new air vehicles entering the airspace, enabling them to perform a variety of missions no matter what airspace that mission may require.

This Strategic Implementation Plan sets forth NASA's vision for aeronautical research aimed at the next 25 years and beyond. It encompasses a broad range of technologies to meet future needs of the aviation community, the nation, and the world for safe, efficient, flexible, and environmentally sustainable air transportation. Read the Plan about Our Strategy NASA’s aeronautical research is organized into four major programs.

Learn about them here. 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.

Airspace Operations and Safety Program Airspace Operations and Safety Program (AOSP) transforms the national airspace to accommodate the variety, density, and complexity of future operations — ensuring U.S. skies remain safe, innovative, and globally competitive.

Integrated Aviation Systems Program Integrated Aviation Systems Program (IASP) conducts flight-oriented, system-level research and technology development to effectively mature and transition advanced aeronautic technologies into future air vehicles and operational systems.

Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program (TACP) cultivates concepts and capabilities that inspire new solution paths, enable innovative design, and lead to technologies that transform aviation.

Aerosciences Evaluation and Test Capabilities The Aerosciences Evaluation and Test Capabilities portfolio office executes strategic efforts to preserve and enhance research and test capabilities for NASA’s world-class portfolio of National Wind Tunnel facilities.

Learn More About the AETC Portfolio The Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel seen here at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California is one of many wind tunnels and test facilities managed by the Aerosciences Evaluation and Test Capabilities portfolio office within NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. 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 NASA’s work with advanced air mobility seeks to transform our communities by bringing the movement of people and goods off the ground, on demand, and into the sky. This air transportation system of the future will include low-altitude passenger transport, cargo delivery, and public service capabilities.

Learn More About AAM about Advanced Air Mobility Office of the Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Leadership Team See the Full ARMD Leadership List Associate Administrator (AA) The ARMD Associate Administrator (AA) Awards are presented to NASA employees, contractors, and students or interns who distinguish themselves, either individually or as part of a group, through their overall approach to their work and through results they achieved during the award year.

View the 2024 AA Awards Honorees about ARMD AA Awards NASA Aeronautics Field Centers NASA conducts its research and operations at field centers across the United States. Four of those centers have traditionally been home to the agency's aeronautics work. Learn more about them.

Armstrong Flight Research Center Demand for air travel continues growing, keeping airports busy with arriving, departing, and taxiing airplanes. NASA technology has helped the FAA modernize and improve the flow of traffic across the National Airspace System, making it easier for passengers to get from gate to gate between airports more safely and sustainably than ever before.

You may not have flown today, but something you needed or used today did. The latest electronic gadget, flowers for a loved one, life-saving medicine, or even fresh seafood for supper — many of your most important needs and wants were delivered to you because of air travel. The importance of aviation to our lives, our economy, and to our society at large is undisputed.

Ensuring we have the safest, most sustainable, and most advanced aeronautics technology is the goal of our hard-working aeronautical innovators. Here are some facts about aviation’s contributions to the the U.S. economy: 9. 24 million flights by U.S. carriers worldwide in 2025 972 million passengers flown by U.S. airlines in 2025 22 million tons of freight transported by U.S. airlines in 2025 2.

23 million aerospace/defense jobs; 4682,000 in aeronautics/aircraft in 2025 With more than a century of aeronautical research heritage to back it up, we’re fond of reminding folks that NASA is with you when you fly. That’s because some piece or form of NASA technology is in use on every U.S. airplane flying today. The images presented here offer just a few examples of how you benefit from NASA when you fly.

This graphic highlights examples of NASA-developed technology deployed on commercial airliners today. This graphic highlights examples of NASA-developed technology deployed on general aviation aircraft today. This graphic highlights examples of NASA-developed technology deployed on civilian rotorcraft today.

This graphic highlights examples of NASA-developed technology deployed on military fighter jets today. Aeronautics Innovation Challenge NASA’s Aeronautics Innovation Challenges are your entry points to the exciting, fast-moving aviation world of today. And they’re valuable ways for us to get inputs and ideas that may never have occurred to us.

Thank you for joining our journey! Learn More about Aeronautics Innovation Challenges about Aeronautics Innovation Challenge Learn More and Get Involved Find opportunities to collaborate with NASA’s aeronautical innovators and/or contribute to their research to enable new and improved air transportation systems.

The Strategic Implementation Plan sets forth the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate vision for aeronautical research aimed at the next 25 years and beyond. Read this important document here. NASA Aeronautics Research Institute The NASA Aeronautics Research Institute promotes innovation in aeronautics across a broad spectrum of aeronautical challenges in the nation’s air transportation system.

Learn about them here. NASA Advisory Council Aeronautics Committee Aeronautics STEM & Learning Resources Explore hands-on activities, interactive lesson plans, educator guides, and other downloadable content about aeronautics. Aeronautics Innovation Challenges Learn more about NASA Aeronautics sponsored challenges and competitions.

Conozca los avances tecnológicos desarrollados por la NASA, la industria de la aviación está mejor equipada que nunca para transportar pasajeros y carga de manera segura y eficiente a destinos alrededor del mundo en español. Explore links to past ARMD projects. Online content relevant to these past projects is being kept online for historical purposes, but is no longer being updated.

Explore a collection of hand-picked stories that showcase the aviation technology NASA is working on — or has worked on and turned over to others for use in the National Airspace System. Research about flying faster than the speed of sound. Stories about pioneering the frontiers of 21st century flight.

All about new ways to get from here to there in the air. Learn about research to make aviation more sustainable. Read about how NASA is opening up the sky for all.

Here are Some Other Cool NASA Aeronautics Stuff to Check Out Aeronautics Innovation Challenges Learn more about NASA Aeronautics sponsored challenges and competitions. A collection of activities and lessons to learn more about NASA Aeronautics and the science of flight that you can do at home. Explore hands-on activities, interactive lesson plans, educator guides, and other downloadable content related to aeronautics.

Aeronautics Virtual Backgrounds Take video calls from your home or office in the cockpit of the X-59 or from inside a wind tunnel! And other aviation themes. Add these books covering NASA Aeronautics and other aviation and space topics to your electronic library.

This binge worthy page collects aeronautics-themed topics from the popular NASA X video series. NASA Aeronautics on Mars & Earth Learn more about NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter. Discover More Topics From NASA