NASA is partnering with GE Aerospace to design and build a partly electric, partly gas-powered engine that may propel a future jet airliner into the skies.

The U.S. space agency, in collaboration with its industry partner, envisages a hybrid jet engine that burns much less fuel by including new components to help electrically power it.

In this hybrid jet engine, a fuel-burning core powers the engine and is assisted by electric motors. The motors produce electric power, which is fed back into the engine itself, thereby reducing how much fuel is needed to power the engine in the first place.

The work, as part of NASA's Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC) project, aims to demonstrate this engine concept by the end of 2028, and subsequently enable its use on airliners in the next decade, according to NASA.

This would be the first ever mild hybrid-electric jet engine, which represents a major step forward in jet engine technology.

A "mild hybrid" engine can be powered partially by electrical machines operating both as motors and generators.

"This could lead to the first production engine for narrow-body airliners 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."

A major HyTEC project goal is to design and demonstrate a jet engine that has a smaller core but produces about the same amount of thrust as engines being flown today on single-aisle aircraft.

At the same time, the smaller core technology aims to reduce fuel burn and emissions by an estimated 5 to 10 percent.

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