NASA is working with its industry partner GE Aerospace on designing and building a hybrid-electric engine for future passenger aircraft, similar to the engines already used in cars. This engine would consume much less fuel by incorporating new components that electrically power the engine.

According to NASA, in this hybrid aircraft engine, a fuel-burning core powers the engine and is assisted by electric motors. These motors generate electrical power, which is fed back into the engine, thus reducing the amount of fuel needed to operate the engine.

This new hybrid-electric engine concept, part of NASA’s Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC) project, is expected to be demonstrated by 2028 and begin its use in commercial aircraft as early as the 2030s.

"This will be the first mild hybrid-electric engine and could lead to the first production engine for narrow-body aircraft that’s hybrid-electric," said Anthony Nerone, who leads the HyTEC project from NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. "It really opens the door for more sustainable aviation, even beyond the 2030s."

The hybrid-electric technology envisioned by NASA and GE Aerospace could also be powered by a new, smaller jet engine core.

According to NASA, the HyTEC project plans to design and demonstrate a jet engine with a smaller core that produces approximately the same amount of thrust as the engines currently used on single-aisle aircraft. At the same time, the smaller core technology aims to reduce fuel consumption and emissions by an estimated 5 to 10%.

HyTEC, part of NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program, is a key area of NASA’s Sustainable Flight National Partnership, which is collaborating with government, industry, and academic partners to address the U.S. goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in aviation by the year 2050