NASA abandons flight tests of the X-57 Maxwell electric aircraft and closes the project

NASA has decided to shut down the X-57 Maxwell electric aircraft project. The space agency made this decision even without conducting flight tests of the prototype.

Here's What We Know

NASA launched the project in 2016 as a testbed for an electric plane with a dozen small and two large propulsion systems. It took the federal agency about four years to approve the final design.

Cost overruns on the Artemis lunar programme and other projects meant that NASA had to cut funding for the X-57 Maxwell. Despite the budget woes, the team planned to do a flight test at the end of the year, but it was not to be. While working on the prototype NASA engineers faced a lot of problems that call into question the safety of the flight.

The project will be closed by the end of September this year. After that, NASA specialists will spend several months preparing design documents to transfer the data collected in the program to aviation researchers.

Source: NASA