HAMPTON, VIRGINIA — NASA opened the Flight Dynamics Research Facility at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Flight Dynamics Research Facility is NASA's first new wind tunnel added to its assets in 40 years.

The facility features a vertical wind tunnel with a 20-foot diameter test chamber. It has a top airspeed of 117 miles per hour, which is twice as fast as the previous facilities.

The facility's wind power comes from four 750-horsepower motors. Each motor has an integrated, 14-foot diameter, eight-bladed fan. The fan blades are made of lightweight carbon fiber.

BL Harbert International built the facility. Construction of the facility began in June 2022. Construction of the facility was completed in March 2026.

The facility cost $53 million to build. Other records indicate the facility cost $57 million to build. The facility is 25,000 square feet in size.

The facility was built through a partnership with the U.S. General Services Administration. The facility is the fourth new building the GSA has delivered to NASA under Langley’s 20-year campus revitalization plan.

Virginia Democratic Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi, Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA), Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), and U.S. General Services Administration Administrator Edward Forst attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Sen. Tim Kaine spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"The Flight Dynamics Research Facility is NASA’s first major new wind tunnel in more than 40 years and gives us a powerful new platform to test the ideas and technologies that will shape the future of aviation and exploration," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said. "America has led in air and space because we were willing to take on hard problems, challenge assumptions, and build what didn’t exist before."

"This facility gives the talented team at Langley, and our partners across government, industry, and universities, the tools to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and ensure America remains the world leader in air and space," Isaacman said.

"The opening of the Flight Dynamics Research Facility represents a significant advancement for NASA and for the nation," NASA Langley center director Trina Dyal said. "By bringing modernized testing capabilities under one roof, we are enabling transformative research that will ensure the United States remains at the forefront of aeronautics and exploration."

"GSA is proud to partner with NASA in delivering the Flight Dynamics Research Facility, a state-of-the-art asset that will power the next generation of American dominance in aeronautics and space exploration," GSA administrator Edward C. Forst said. "This facility reflects what we do best: provide the advanced, expertly designed installations that federal agencies need to carry out their missions." "With these new capabilities, NASA will be better equipped to test bold ideas, validate new designs, and advance technologies that will serve the nation for decades to come," Forst said.

The Flight Dynamics Research Facility replaces the 20-Foot Vertical Spin Tunnel and the 12-Foot Low-Speed Tunnel at Langley. Components from the historic wind tunnels are incorporated into the new facility. Langley Research Center previously utilized the 20-foot vertical spin tunnel and the 12-foot low-speed tunnel.

The facility will undergo data collection and certifications before beginning actual wind tunnel test runs. The first flight test run at the facility will involve NASA’s X-66 Transonic Truss-Braced Wing project.

A model of the Orion spacecraft equipped with a parachute was tested at the facility. The Orion testing included the Launch Abort System. The DAVINCI spacecraft mission to Venus is being tested at Langley.

Langley Research Center was established in 1917 as NASA’s first field center. The facility is managed under the Aerosciences Evaluation and Test Capabilities portfolio in the Aeronautics Division of NASA’s Research and Technology Mission Directorate.

The facility marks a significant modernization of U.S. aeronautics testing capabilities after a four-decade gap in new wind tunnel construction. By consolidating testing capacity into a single structure with double the airspeed of its predecessors, the site aims to support both aviation innovation and deep-space exploration missions.

Why It Matters

As NASA's first new wind tunnel in 40 years, this facility replaces aging infrastructure with testing speeds twice as fast as previous capabilities. The center supports immediate validation of the X-66 aircraft design and Orion spacecraft safety systems before full operational certification. This modernization ensures the agency can evaluate next-generation aviation and exploration technologies that shaped by decades-old equipment could not accommodate.