NASA Seeks 'Revolutionary' Aerospace Technologies at AFA Industry Day

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NASA's Glenn Research Center is hosting an industry day on April 23, 2026 to brief companies on the agency's Aeronautics Flight Accelerator (AFA) initiative and explore potential partnerships in advanced aerospace technology development. The event will take place in Cleveland, Ohio and feature programmatic overviews, Q&A sessions, and one-on-one meetings between NASA officials and participating companies.

Why it matters

The AFA initiative is designed to accelerate the transition of cutting-edge aeronautics technologies from research to real-world flight demonstration by improving access to NASA's flight assets and test infrastructure. This event represents an opportunity for aerospace companies to collaborate with the agency and help advance 'revolutionary' rather than 'evolutionary' innovations that could deliver significant performance improvements.

The details

NASA is seeking proposals for technologies that enable rapid, flexible flight experimentation as well as advancements in autonomy, sensing, avionics, and other flight-critical systems. Companies must submit a two-page executive summary by April 14th to be considered for a 20-minute one-on-one meeting during the industry day. NASA will evaluate submissions based on how well the proposed approaches align with AFA goals and the agency's interest in maturing flight-ready technologies.

• The industry day will take place on April 23, 2026 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern.
• The deadline to submit executive summaries for one-on-one meetings is April 14, 2026 at 12 p.m. ET.

What’s next

Companies selected for one-on-one meetings will be expected to present and discuss their executive summaries during the scheduled sessions. NASA will evaluate the submissions and assign meeting slots based on how well the proposed approaches align with AFA goals.