NASA X-57 Maxwell distributed electric propulsion system
NASA's X-57 Maxwell Mod IV design used a distributed electric propulsion system with fourteen electric motor-propellers: twelve high-lift units along the wing leading edge for takeoff and landing, plus two wingtip cruise units for cruise. NASA documents a 460-volt battery architecture and identifies the high-lift and cruise power boundaries; the X-57 project closed in 2024 before first flight, so this record describes the intended research configuration and does not assert flight heritage for Mod IV.
Identity
- Aliases
- X-57 DEP systemX-57 Mod IV propulsion
- Domains
- aviation
- Identity Level
- integrated-system
- Kind
- integrated-propulsion-system
- Name
- NASA X-57 Maxwell distributed electric propulsion system
- Status
- historical
Details
- Description
- NASA's X-57 Maxwell Mod IV design used a distributed electric propulsion system with fourteen electric motor-propellers: twelve high-lift units along the wing leading edge for takeoff and landing, plus two wingtip cruise units for cruise. NASA documents a 460-volt battery architecture and identifies the high-lift and cruise power boundaries; the X-57 project closed in 2024 before first flight, so this record describes the intended research configuration and does not assert flight heritage for Mod IV.
Links
- Official Url
- https://www.nasa.gov/x-57-maxwell/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- September 7, 2026 at 21:44:54 UTC
- Updated Time
- September 7, 2026 at 21:44:54 UTC
Other
- Search Name
- NASA X-57 Maxwell distributed electric propulsion system X-57 DEP system X-57 Mod IV propulsion
- Sources
- Accessed Date
- 2026-09-07
- Note
- NASA describes the final X-57 configuration as fourteen electric motors and propellers: twelve high-lift motors along the wing leading edge and two wingtip cruise motors.
- Publisher
- NASA
- Title
- X-57 Maxwell Overview
- Accessed Date
- 2026-09-07
- Note
- NASA describes the 460-volt battery powering fourteen motors and propellers and records that the X-57 project closed in March 2024 before first flight.
- Publisher
- NASA
- Title
- X-57 Maxwell
- Accessed Date
- 2026-09-07
- Note
- NASA technical material describes twelve electric high-lift motors and two larger cruise motors, with high-lift propulsion used for takeoff and landing and wingtip cruise motors used in cruise.
- Publisher
- NASA Technical Reports Server
- Title
- Development of a Maxwell X-57