Otto Aviation, a leader in aerospace innovation, has been awarded $7 million grant under the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Fueling Aviation’s Sustainable Transition (FAST-Tech) discretionary grant program for Low-Emission Aviation Technology. This funding will accelerate the company’s pioneering work on transonic natural laminar flow (TNLF), an aircraft technology they believe can help the aviation industry achieve carbon-neutral flight by 2050.

The grant supports Otto Aviation’s collaboration with Pennsylvania State University to develop ultra-efficient transonic aircraft which reduce fuel consumption by over 50%. A dramatic reduction in fuel consumption unlocks the economic viability of carbon-neutral Sustainable Aviation Fuels (or SAF). Otto’s innovative approach also reduces or eliminates aircraft-induced clouds (AIC), commonly known as contrails, which are thought to account for 57% of aviation’s total CO2 and non-CO2 contributions to global warming (Atmospheric Environment, D.S. Lee, and others, 2021). All three technologies can reduce aviation’s total global warming impact to zero.

Otto Aviation’s transonic natural laminar flow technology aims to reduce viscous drag, the main source of aerodynamic drag and energy consumption in aircraft during flight. Further, the most significant individual contributor to aviation’s total radiative forcing near-term is the formation of contrail cirrus (Grewe et al., 2017). While carbon dioxide emitted today impacts global warming within 20–40 years, the warming effect of contrails is immediate (Avila et al., 2019). Otto Aviation’s innovative technology addresses both warming forces, which together can reduce aviation’s warming impact by nearly 80%.

The company will complete wind-tunnel testing of its Flight Test Vehicle 1 (FTV1) with FAA FAST-Tech grant funding. Following these wind-tunnel evaluations, Otto will complete the development and final assembly of a test-piloted flight vehicle which will be flown at altitudes as high as 53,000 feet starting in 2027.

“We believe our collaboration with the FAA and Penn State University is developing the most promising technology for reducing aviation’s global warming effect while maintaining the range and affordability that the market demands,” said Paul Touw, CEO of Otto Aviation.

“With the potential for certification of these technologies by the end of this decade, our technology could lead the industry towards a sustainable future into the 2030s.

“Our approach combines the latest aerodynamic innovations with advanced composite manufacturing in a way no one else has attempted,” said Scott Drennan, COO of Otto Aviation. “Thanks to the FAA FAST-Tech grant, we can bring these laminar-flow technologies to practical implementation faster, significantly cutting drag and fuel consumption at high altitudes. This progress will drive us closer to achieving net-zero global warming impact from aviation by 2050.”

Research and development will be conducted at Otto Aviation’s new flight test facilities in Fort Worth, Texas, in partnership with Penn State University’s distinguished Aerospace Engineering department in University Park, Pennsylvania.