The NASA innovative advanced concepts (niac) program focuses on early-stage feasibility studies of visionary concepts that address national government and commercial aerospace goals. Concepts are…

The University of Illinois has been awarded a $175,000 grant under NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program for a Phase II feasibility study titled "Hydrogen Hybrid Power for Aviation Sustainable Systems" (HY2PASS), with an ultimate completion date of December 31, 2025. This research grant, issued on April 1, 2025, supports early-stage exploration of visionary aerospace concepts that address NASA's strategic goals and broader space or aeronautics applications. The award carries no set-aside designation and will be conducted at the university's Urbana, Illinois campus.

The NIAC Program, funded through NASA's civilian space agency mission, seeks disruptive innovations and radically different approaches to aerospace challenges that are typically in the Technology Readiness Level 1-2 stage and projected for application ten or more years in the future. As a prominent public research institution with extensive federal contracting experience across multiple scientific and engineering domains, the University of Illinois is well-positioned to advance hydrogen-based hybrid power systems for sustainable aviation. This research aligns with broader national priorities in clean energy and advanced propulsion technologies for both commercial and government aerospace applications.

The NASA innovative advanced concepts (niac) program focuses on early-stage feasibility studies of visionary concepts that address national government and commercial aerospace goals. Concepts are solicited from any field of study that offers a radically different approach or disruptive innovation that may significantly enhance or enable new human or robotic science and exploration missions. The niac program seeks exciting, unexplored, credible aerospace concepts with at least one mission application that addresses NASA goals or offers wider benefits with space or aeronautics applications. Niac focuses on early studies of visionary aerospace concepts. These aerospace architectures, proposed in the context of a representative mission, will generally advance from technology readiness level (TRL) 1-2 in maturity and are aimed ten or more years in the future.