NASA Plans Return to High-Speed Aircraft Design, Like SR-71 Blackbird
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman Signals Return to Radical High-Speed Aircraft Design
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced during a September presentation at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles that the agency is working to restore its fleet of experimental “X-planes,” signaling a return to high-altitude and high-speed flight. Isaacman stated that NASA will soon fly as high and fast as it did decades ago, and potentially faster, while emphasizing that the “A” in NASA stands for aeronautics.
Experimental X-Planes and Radical Design
During the All-In Summit, Isaacman displayed an illustration of an aircraft resembling the SR-71 Blackbird. When questioned by venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya on whether the image depicted a Blackbird, Isaacman responded, “I want us to go back to radical airframe and engine design, as we were always meant to do.”
This initiative follows the development of the X-59, an aircraft currently used to research quiet supersonic flight. Isaacman characterized the X-59 as only the beginning of a broader push toward experimental aviation. The agency’s goal is to move beyond current limitations and reintegrate the radical design philosophies that defined earlier eras of aerospace research.
The Disappearance of SR-71 Blackbird Tail Number 844
Following Isaacman’s remarks, reports emerged that the most recent of the Blackbird aircraft used by NASA, tail number 844, is no longer on outdoor display at the Armstrong Flight Research Center. The aircraft, located near Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, has been absent from satellite imagery since at least May 17 of this year.
The defense publication The War Zone, citing Aviation Week, noted the possibility that NASA could be attempting to make aircraft 844 airworthy again. The aircraft is considered the strongest candidate for such a project because it is the newest of the fleet, was stored in a stable, dry climate, and remains under NASA’s control rather than in a civilian museum. However, The War Zone noted that restoring the plane would be exceptionally difficult due to the loss of technical expertise over the last 25 years and the high cost of sourcing spare parts and specialized fuel.
NASA has not issued a statement regarding the current location or status of tail number 844. The War Zone acknowledged that the aircraft’s removal from display and Isaacman’s comments may be a coincidence.
History of the SR-71 at NASA
The SR-71 Blackbird was originally a military reconnaissance aircraft designed for extreme speed and altitude to avoid detection and interception over territories such as the Soviet Union and North Korea. After the U.S. Air Force phased out the fleet following the Cold War, NASA acquired two of the aircraft for research purposes. NASA operated these planes until 1999, with the final Blackbird flight occurring at a California airshow that year.
The aircraft’s operational history includes several documented emergency landings in Norway between 1981 and 1988. At least eight such landings occurred at Sola, Andøya, or Bodø air stations, primarily involving aircraft stationed at RAF Mildenhall in England. These incidents were largely caused by technical failures, including two instances of engine fires. One specific aircraft, tail number 17964, became known as “The Bodonian Express” after emergency landing at Bodø on August 13, 1981. That aircraft is now displayed at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Nebraska.