Turbofan Power Extraction Demonstration Test Data Documentation

Abstract

In December 2025, GE Aerospace and NASA demonstrated the first full-scale hybrid-electric turbofan engine as part of NASA’s Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC) project. The Turbofan Power Extraction (PEx) Demonstration test validates the viability of hybrid electric turbofan technology and elevates it to Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4, using a modern commercial turbofan with MW-class electric machines (EMs) integrated into both spools. The PEx Test Vehicle consisted of a modified GE Passport 20 Turbofan Engine with GE-developed 850 kW permanent magnet motor/generators (M/Gs) connected to each of the high-pressure (HP) and low-pressure (LP) spools. The test was completed by GE Aerospace at GE’s Peebles Test Operation (PTO) in Peebles, OH from October through December of 2025. The demonstration was successful, exceeding the full success criteria for all of the HyTEC project Technical Performance Metrics (TPMs) and the Key Performance Parameter (KPP). The PEx Demonstration test results will also inform the design of GE’s Advanced Core Demonstrator (ACD), supported by NASA’s Subsonic Vehicle Technologies and Tools (SVTT) project and part of GE Aerospace/CFM’s Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines (RISE) program. The test has been documented with both limited rights (Ref. 1) and unlimited rights (Ref. 2) contractor reports, as well as multiple design reviews and a final test review presented to NASA. Additionally, pre- and post-test engine models were provided to NASA as steady-state Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS) cycle models. Figure 1 shows a public image of the PEx Demonstration test setup on the Site 3B test stand at PTO. This work was completed by GE and NASA under Government Contract No. 80GRC020F0188.