NASA consortium advances composite aircraft manufacturing ahead of 2028 demonstrations

NASA’s Hi-Rate Composite Aircraft Manufacturing (HiCAM) project convened its Advanced Composites Consortium partners for a spring review at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, from May 5 to 7. Approximately 150 participants from the 22-member public-private partnership attended the event to assess progress and plan future work.

The review provided an opportunity for NASA and industry partners to examine recent results from the project’s Development Phase and discuss early progress under Phase 2, known as the Demonstration Phase. During the meeting, NASA announced portfolio decisions selecting technologies intended to have the greatest impact on manufacturing rates for the next airplane program.

A significant portion of the event involved full-day workshops focused on assembly demonstrations for two large aircraft structures: the wing and the fuselage. These sessions brought together NASA researchers, industry engineers, and partners to share updates, exchange ideas, and discuss long-term plans for scaling up key manufacturing technologies.

Participants reported stronger collaboration and coordination across the group compared to previous years. This increased cooperation supports the consortium’s objective to conduct large-scale manufacturing demonstrations of a composite fuselage barrel in 2028 and a wing box in 2029. These demonstrations are identified as major project milestones.

The broader aim of the HiCAM project is to demonstrate how advanced composite materials and processes can support faster, lower-cost aircraft production. Future manufacturing methods for lightweight composite structures are expected to make future aircraft easier to build and more efficient to operate, although specific metrics for these outcomes remain undefined in current reports.

Kimiko Booker NASA Langley Research Center