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Spinoff story
Unmanned Research Aircraft Test Cutting-Edge Innovations
A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.
About this technology
Overview
Many of NASA_s aeronautical advances go through testing with unmanned experimental aircraft before they see any commercial flight time. Armstrong Flight Research Center awarded multiple SBIR contracts to Kennesaw, Georgia-based Area-I Inc. for the development of a medium-range, narrow-body, twinjet airliner for aerodynamics investigations. The result is the Prototype-Technology Evaluation Research Aircraft, or PTERA, which is now on offer to research universities and aerospace companies at a fraction of the cost of comparable experimental aircraft.