What It Is
OpenVSP (Open Vehicle Sketch Pad) is a parametric aircraft design tool created and maintained by NASA. Originally developed at NASA Langley Research Center by Rob McDonald (now at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo), it has been open source since 2012 and is freely available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. OpenVSP is released under the NASA Open Source Agreement — completely free for any use.
What makes OpenVSP unique is that it understands aircraft. While SolidWorks and CATIA treat everything as generic geometry, OpenVSP's components are aerospace-specific: wings (with airfoil selection, twist, dihedral, and taper), fuselages (with cross-section blending), engines (nacelles and inlets), and control surfaces. You can build a complete aircraft configuration in minutes, not hours. Change the wing sweep from 25 to 35 degrees and the entire wing updates parametrically — something that would require significant rework in a general-purpose CAD tool.
OpenVSP includes VSPAERO, a built-in vortex lattice method (VLM) and panel method solver that computes aerodynamic forces directly on the OpenVSP geometry. This means you can go from concept sketch to aerodynamic analysis without exporting to a separate tool. For conceptual design — where you're evaluating dozens of configurations quickly — this speed is essential. OpenVSP is the required or expected tool for AIAA aircraft design competitions and is used by NASA, DARPA, and university design teams worldwide.
Aerospace Applications
AIAA Competition Standard
The AIAA Foundation Aircraft Design Competition specifies OpenVSP as the conceptual design tool in many competition briefs. Student teams use OpenVSP to model their aircraft configuration, run VSPAERO for initial aerodynamic analysis, and generate the three-view drawings required for competition reports. Winning entries from Cal Poly, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and other top programs routinely feature OpenVSP in their design methodology.
NASA Conceptual Design Studies
NASA uses OpenVSP for internal conceptual design studies — evaluating novel aircraft configurations for efficiency, noise, and emissions. Studies on blended wing body (BWB) aircraft, truss-braced wings, and distributed electric propulsion concepts at NASA Langley and NASA Glenn use OpenVSP for rapid geometry exploration. The tool integrates with NASA's higher-fidelity analysis codes through standardized geometry export formats.
DARPA and Military Conceptual Design
Defense research programs use OpenVSP for rapid configuration exploration of novel aircraft concepts. When evaluating dozens of potential designs in a trade study, OpenVSP's parametric speed is essential. The tool's DegenGeom export provides simplified geometry representations suitable for aerodynamic, structural, and propulsion analysis codes used in defense programs.
Parametric Trade Studies
OpenVSP's scripting capability (AngelScript or Python API) enables automated parametric sweeps: vary wing area, aspect ratio, sweep, and taper ratio systematically while computing aerodynamic performance for each variant. This is how conceptual designers explore the design space — not by drawing one airplane, but by evaluating hundreds of variations to find the optimum.
Integration with Analysis Toolchains
OpenVSP exports geometry to multiple formats: STL for 3D printing and CFD meshing, STEP/IGES for import into SolidWorks or CATIA, DegenGeom for aerodynamic panel codes, and CompGeom for wetted area and volume calculations. It serves as the geometry engine at the front of multi-disciplinary analysis toolchains used in academia and industry.
Getting Started
High School
OpenVSP is immediately approachable — you can build a recognizable aircraft in your first session.
- Download OpenVSP from openvsp.org — free, no account needed, runs on Windows/Mac/Linux
- Build your first aircraft: add a fuselage, wing, horizontal tail, vertical tail, and engine — see the 3D model update in real time
- Modify wing parameters: change span, chord, sweep, dihedral, and airfoil to see how each affects the shape
- Try recreating a real aircraft (Cessna 172, Boeing 737, F-16) from three-view drawings
- Watch the NASA OpenVSP Ground School video series (free on YouTube) — graduate-level content, but the early sessions are accessible
Undergraduate
Use OpenVSP as your primary tool for aircraft design coursework and AIAA competitions.
- Complete the full NASA OpenVSP Ground School (12+ hours of free lectures by the tool's creator)
- Run VSPAERO on your configurations: compute lift curves, drag polars, and stability derivatives
- Perform trade studies: vary aspect ratio, wing loading, and sweep angle; plot performance vs. each parameter
- Use CompGeom for wetted area and parasitic drag estimation (component buildup method)
- Export geometry to XFLR5 for detailed airfoil analysis, to ANSYS for CFD, or to SolidWorks for detailed design
- Use OpenVSP for AIAA Design Competition entries — it is the expected starting tool
Advanced / Graduate
Build automated design frameworks and contribute to the tool's development.
- Use the OpenVSP Python API for automated parametric studies and optimization loops
- Couple OpenVSP with higher-fidelity tools: OpenFOAM or ANSYS for CFD, NASTRAN for structural analysis
- Implement multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) frameworks with OpenVSP as the geometry engine
- Model unconventional configurations: BWB, joined wing, box wing, tandem wing, distributed propulsion
- Contribute to OpenVSP development on GitHub — the project welcomes academic contributors
- Present OpenVSP-based design studies at AIAA SciTech or Aviation conferences
Career Connection
| Role | How OpenVSP Is Used | Typical Employers | Salary Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aircraft Conceptual Designer | Rapid configuration exploration, parametric trade studies, and aerodynamic performance estimation for new aircraft programs | Boeing Phantom Works, Lockheed Skunk Works, Northrop Grumman, NASA | $95K–$160K |
| Aerodynamics Engineer | Initial aerodynamic analysis with VSPAERO before handing geometry to CFD teams for higher-fidelity simulation | Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, Textron Aviation, Boom Supersonic | $90K–$150K |
| MDO Research Engineer | OpenVSP as geometry engine in multidisciplinary design optimization frameworks for novel aircraft | NASA, DARPA contractors, Georgia Tech, MIT, Stanford research labs | $85K–$145K |
| eVTOL Configuration Designer | Rapid evaluation of novel VTOL configurations — tilt-rotor, lift+cruise, vectored thrust — with parametric geometry | Joby Aviation, Archer Aviation, Lilium, Wisk, Bell | $100K–$160K |
| Defense Systems Analyst | Configuration trade studies for military aircraft and UAV concepts during early program phases | RAND, Aerospace Corporation, MITRE, defense primes | $90K–$150K |
This Tool by Career Path
Aerospace Engineer →
The standard tool for aircraft conceptual design — parametric geometry, built-in aerodynamic analysis (VSPAERO), and AIAA competition standard
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Pilot →
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Launch vehicle fairing design, re-entry vehicle geometry modeling, and payload accommodation analysis