Astra SPX N3RC departing Daytona Beach, Florida, in February 2026. · Photo: ZLEA, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
IAI · Midsize Jet
IAI Astra SPX
Third version of the IAI Astra and the last sold under the IAI name before Gulfstream renamed it the G100.
The Astra SPX goes farther and faster than most midsize jets at its price, with a real rear lavatory. In exchange, the cabin is narrow, bags ride outside and out of reach, and the small fleet makes engine-plan status and records critical.
Buy it if
You usually fly two to four people on long legs, such as coast to coast or the Northeast to the Caribbean, and value range and speed per dollar over cabin width.
Skip it if
Your passengers want a wide cabin, you carry lots of luggage or golf bags, or you often depart short, high or hot runways at heavy weights.
Biggest compromise
Range comes from fuel, and fuel costs space. With the optional baggage-area tank installed, the outside hold shrinks to 42 cu ft and 370 lb, and full tanks leave only about 800 lb for people and bags.
The numbers that matter
What it costs per year
$1.5M
at 300 hrs · two professional pilots
How far it flies
2,950 nm
2,456–2,790 nm with passengers
How fast
470 kt
high-speed cruise
Seats
7
7 typical (6–8 by interior)
Pilots needed
2
Certified for two pilots; there is no single-pilot version.
Price
What one costs to buy
Typical asking price
$0
Other sites
Priced vs call
with a price / call for price
Two of five listed aircraft show prices: $1.995M for a 1999 example and $2.495M for a 2001 example. Engine-plan status, hours and refurbishment drive the gap.
Price vs its family and alternatives
Scroll to explore · select a jet for details
For sale now
None listed right now
Cost to own
What it costs per year to run
300hours / year
Per year
Per flight hour
Estimate — your operator will quote actual numbers.
Fuel, airframe maintenance, engine program and landing, handling and trip costs rise as you fly more. Two professional pilots, recurrent training, hangar, insurance, management and subscriptions and databases stay the same however much you fly.
Where the money goes
- Two professional pilots$287,04419%
- Recurrent training$59,0664%
- Hangar$42,2483%
- Insurance$29,1162%
- Management$54,0004%
- Subscriptions and databases$16,0001%
- Fuel$503,74534%
- Airframe maintenance$266,02818%
- Engine program$178,25112%
- Landing, handling and trip costs$67,5004%
Fuel is the biggest single cost at 34% of the total.
The JetGrade
68 out of 100 — Below its class average
Peer group: Learjet 60, Hawker 800XP, Cessna Citation VII, Cessna Citation Excel
Seven categories at a glance
- - - 70 = typical— This aircraft
Strongest on range & payload, weakest on cabin & passenger comfort.
Grades are editorial opinions about the model, not any specific aircraft. Sponsors and affiliates have no input. Reviewed 2026-10-28.
Where it flies
Sample trips and reach
Typical trips on a map
Nonstop
Depends on weight or weather
5 of 8 sample trips are comfortable nonstops.
Sample flight times
- 0.9 hr
Carlsbad → Las Vegas
205 nm · Short hop, well within range
- 1.8 hr
Carlsbad → Aspen
625 nm · Hot-and-high; depends on weight and weather
- 2.1 hr
Santa Ana → San José del Cabo
765 nm
- 2.5 hr
Teterboro → West Palm Beach
900 nm
- 3.1 hr
Dallas → Teterboro
1,190 nm
- 3.6 hr
Teterboro → San Juan
1,410 nm
- 5.3 hr
Carlsbad → Teterboro
2,100 nm · Range is fine; Carlsbad's short runway limits fuel
- 5.6 hr
Los Angeles → Honolulu
2,215 nm · Needs full tanks; strong headwinds erase the margin
Lineage
What came before and after
1996–2001
IAI Astra SPX
Stronger engines, winglets and a Collins glass cockpit.
What changed from the IAI Astra SP
- Honeywell TFE731-40R engines at 4,250 lb thrust each, up from 3,700 lb, with digital control.
- Winglets added, stretching the wingspan from 52 ft 8 in to 54 ft 7 in.
- Collins Pro Line 4 cockpit with four glass screens and dual flight management systems.
- About 2,790 nm with four passengers when the optional baggage-area fuel tank is fitted.
- Maximum speed limit raised from Mach 0.85 to Mach 0.87.
Size and cabin
How big it is, inside and out
Outside
Silhouette · scaled to length
Length
Wingspan
Height
Inside the cabin
Cabin length
Width
Height
Compare
How it stacks up
This aircraft
IAI Astra SPX
- JetGrade
- 68
- Cost per year
- $1.5M
- Range
- 2,950 nm
- Speed
- 470 kt
- Seats
- 7
- Cabin length
- 17′ 1″
- Pilots
- 2
- Years built
- 1996–2001
← Before
- JetGrade
- 65
- Price
- $550K–$1.3M guide
- Cost per year
- $1.47M
- Range
- 2,780 nm
- Speed
- 462 kt
- Seats
- 7
- Cabin length
- 17′ 1″
- Pilots
- 2
- Years built
- 1990–1995
After →
- JetGrade
- 66
- Cost per year
- $1.46M
- Range
- 2,700 nm
- Speed
- 465 kt
- Seats
- 7
- Cabin length
- 17′ 1″
- Pilots
- 2
- Years built
- 2001–2006
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 65
- Price
- $2.8M
- Cost per year
- $1.95M
- Range
- 2,390 nm
- Speed
- 465 kt
- Seats
- 7
- Cabin length
- 17′ 8″
- Pilots
- 2
- Years built
- 1993–2007
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 72
- Price
- $2.17M
- Cost per year
- $1.83M
- Range
- 2,540 nm
- Speed
- 448 kt
- Seats
- 8
- Cabin length
- 21′ 4″
- Pilots
- 2
- Years built
- 1995–2005
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 71
- Price
- $6.17M
- Cost per year
- $1.84M
- Range
- 2,950 nm
- Speed
- 473 kt
- Seats
- 7
- Cabin length
- 17′ 8″
- Pilots
- 2
- Years built
- 2006–2017
- Learjet 60 instead: Wider, taller cabin and similar speed with a larger fleet, but less range with four passengers.
- Hawker 800XP instead: Much roomier cabin with baggage you can reach in flight and a big support network; slower and thirstier.
- Gulfstream G150 instead: The same family with a wider cabin, newer Pro Line 21 cockpit and similar range, at a much higher price.
Gold marks the best figure in each row.
Owning one
What to know before you buy
Engines & inspections
2 × Honeywell TFE731-40R-200G · 4,250 lbf each
Engine hours until overhaul
- 250-hour inspection · 250 hr
- 500-hour inspection · 500 hr
- 1,000-hour inspection · 1,000 hr
- Engine mid-life inspection · 2,500 hr
- Engine core inspection · 5,000 hr
- 4-year inspection every 48 months
- 12-year inspection every 144 months
Most aircraft for sale have their engines, and often the APU, on Honeywell's pay-per-hour plan. Aircraft without it can face large inspection bills.
Known issues
Engine program status drives value
Engines off Honeywell's pay-per-hour plan face large mid-life and core inspection bills, so enrolled aircraft command a premium.
Aging cockpit screens
The original Pro Line 4 uses tube-type screens; a Pro Line 21 flat-screen retrofit has been offered since 2012.
Bag space versus range
The optional baggage-area fuel tank adds range but shrinks the outside hold to 42 cu ft and 370 lb.
Pre-buy checklist
0 of 10 checked
Gulfstream has held the type certificate since 2002 and supports the aircraft as the G100. The small fleet means fewer specialists, but the Honeywell engines are widely supported.
Review
The full review
Strengths
- About 2,790 nm with four passengers and reserves, enough for most US coast-to-coast trips nonstop in still air.
- Cruises near 470 knots and climbs to 45,000 ft on two Honeywell TFE731-40R engines.
- A private, full-width lavatory at the rear and 5 ft 7 in of headroom over the aisle.
Limitations
- The cabin is 4 ft 9 in wide, more than a foot narrower than a Learjet 60 or Hawker 800XP.
- Bags ride in a 42–55 cu ft outside hold that cannot be reached in flight.
- Needs about 5,395 ft of runway at maximum weight, and far more at high, hot airports.
The IAI Astra SPX is the third version of the Astra, a midsize business jet built by Israel Aircraft Industries in Tel Aviv and sold in the US by Galaxy Aerospace. It descends from the Westwind, which grew out of the 1960s Jet Commander, but the Astra put a modern swept wing under a Westwind-based fuselage. The SPX, delivered from 1996, added stronger engines, winglets and a glass Collins cockpit. After Gulfstream bought Galaxy in 2001, the same airplane was sold as the Gulfstream G100, and it later grew into the wider G150. Fewer than 60 carried the SPX name.
Pilot's take
We see the Astra SPX as a pilot's airplane first. The slatted swept wing and 4,250 lb engines give it brisk climbs and a 470 knot cruise, and it lands slower and shorter than its takeoff numbers suggest. The Collins Pro Line 4 cockpit was modern in 1996 and still works, though the tube screens show their age. Two habits matter: plan fuel carefully out of short or hot runways, and decide early whether the baggage-area tank stays in. Ice protection uses rubber boots rather than heated leading edges, so winter operators should know their boots and their limits.
Who this is for
Owners and small operators who fly two to four passengers on long trips, want transcontinental range for about $2 million to $2.5 million, and are comfortable owning an older, low-production jet backed by a good shop and an engine plan.
Ask about this aircraft
Answers come only from our research file on the Astra SPX.
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