HEART AEROSPACE TO EXPLORE EARLY USE CASE FOR ELECTRIC ES-30 AIRPLANE WITH ÅLAND ISLANDS

On 23 March Swedish electric airplane maker Heart Aerospace and the Government of Åland announced a collaboration to explore the use of Heart’s electric regional airplane, the ES-30, in developing sustainable air services for the Baltic Sea group of islands

ZIPLINE UNVEILS NEW AUTONOMOUS SYSTEM CAPABLE OF QUIET, FAST AND PRECISE HOME DELIVERY

Last month Zipline unveiled its new platform that provides quiet, fast and precise autonomous delivery directly to homes in cities and suburbs. The company’s next-generation home delivery platform is practically silent (designed to sound like wind rustling leaves) and is expected to deliver up to seven times as fast as traditional automobile delivery, completing 10-mile deliveries in about 10 minutes

FLYH2 ANNOUNCES THE SUCCESSFUL MAIDEN FLIGHTS OF DRAGONFLY V

Cape Town based FlyH2 Aerospace has announced the successful maiden flights of its hydrogen-electric Dragonfly V, a commercial UAV (or drone) designed for a range of applications requiring long endurance or payload flexibility. The flight tests took place last week in Citrusdal, approximately two hours outside of Cape Town, South Africa

AIRBUS ACHIEVES IN-FLIGHT AUTONOMOUS GUIDANCE AND CONTROL OF A DRONE FROM A TANKER AIRCRAFT

Airbus Defence and Space and the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Airbus UpNext, have achieved in-flight autonomous guidance and control of a drone using an A310 MRTT

SPACEX CREW-6 STARTS ITS LONG MISSION

Following a successful lift-off from the Kennedy Space Centre’s storied Launch Complex 39A, the four crew-members manning NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission have safely attained Earth orbit.

SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL

Aviation has a very high impact on the planet, accounting for over two percent of global CO2 emissions, and nearly double that warming impact through non-CO2 effects. For this industry to persist in a zero-carbon world, we must find ways to reduce its impacts through new technology, operational efficiency, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and carbon offsets.

NESTE ON THE MOVE WITH SAF DEALS

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) manufacturer has signed several deals recently to boost use of SAF. Boeing has agreed to purchase Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel supplied by EPIC Fuels, Signature Aviation and Avfuel to power its US commercial operations through 2023. These fuel purchases more than double Boeing’s SAF procurement from last year. Neste’s SAF will be blended with conventional jet fuel at a 30/70 ratio to produce 5.6 million gallons of blended SAF.

ZEROAVIA HIGH TEMPERATURE FUEL CELL TESTING

On 9 March 2023 ZeroAvia announced that it has achieved record-breaking performance in testing of its High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane (HTPEM) systems. Early testing of the pressurised 20kW HTPEM stack power module in ZeroAvia’s UK R&D location has demonstrated a record 2.5 kW/kg specific power at the cell level, paving the way for 3+ kW/kg system level densities in the next 24 months.

DASH-8 FLIES ON PARTIAL HYDROGEN POWER

On the morning of 2 March 2023, Universal Hydrogen, the California energy concern about the commendable endeavour of making hydrogen-powered commercial flight a near-term reality flew its Lightning McClean, a De Havilland Dash 8-300 regional airliner under partial, hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion.

WORLD'S FASTEST EVTOL TAKES PILOTS ONBOARD: THE AIRSPEEDER MK4 FLYING RACING CAR

Alauda Aeronautics has unveiled the Airspeeder Mk4, the first crewed version of its flying racing car.

VOLOCOPTER GAINS STRATEGIC JAPANESE INVESTOR

The pioneer of urban air mobility (UAM), Volocopter announced that Sumitomo Corporation, a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest trading companies in the world, invested in the company’s Series E Funding round. They will also become key strategic partner for entry into service in the Japanese market starting in 2025.

LUFTHANSA AVIATION TRAINING BECOMES LAUNCH CUSTOMER FOR THE ALL-ELECTRIC EDA40

Diamond Aircraft Austria and Lufthansa Aviation Training (LAT) have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to jointly explore and develop opportunities for a more sustainable flight training. The cooperation includes testing of the all-electric eDA40 in a real training environment, an eDA40 purchase intention to supplement the current DA40 NG fleet as well as analyses for the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels.

ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT MARKET TO REACH US$27.7-BILLION BY 2030

The global market for electric aircraft is estimated to be $7.9-billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $27.7-billion by 2030 at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14.8-percent during the forecast period. The market’s growth is driven primarily by the deployment of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) aircraft and the increasing use of electric aircraft for cargo applications and commercial aerial mission-specific activities.

DO CONSUMERS TRUST THE IDEA OF DRONE DELIVERY?

While a stunning 90% of all Americans surveyed indicate that they are interested in ordering products for drone or driverless delivery, there are obvious concerns with safety, privacy and logistics.

BAE UNWRAPS STRIX VTOL STRIKE DRONE WITH 800KM RANGE AT AVALON

BAE Systems Australia used the first day of the biggest Avalon Air Show in history to unveil its new Strix long-range strike and ISR drone.

AUSTRALIA TO DEPLOY AIRSPACE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT IN 2025

On 27 February Airspace Australia said it has completed prototyping on its Flight Information Management System (FIMS) for UAS and is now focused on delivering a product in 2025.

RUSSIA's SUPERSONIC AIRLINER TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR PRODUCTION IN 2023 TO ENTER

Reports in Russian State media indicate that a technology demonstrator for an upcoming Russian supersonic passenger aircraft will enter production in 2023. It will be constructed at Chaplygin Siberian Scientific Research Institute of Aviation (SibNIA), using the MiG-29 fighter jet as a basis.

BOOM Supersonic FINDS PILOT FLIGH training and EDUCATION partners

Boom Supersonic will be partnering with FlightSafety International (FSI) to train pilots, mechanics and cabin crew for its upcoming Overture aircraft. Together, the two companies, who are promising to bring back supersonic travel, will cooperate and develop training programmes and curriculums for Overture crews.

NASA CONSIDERS SOLICITING SPACEX'S ASSISTANCE

After MS-22, a Russian Soyuz capsule docked to the ISS, sprung a coolant leak on 14 December 2022, the safety of crew-members aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has been foremost on the minds of NASA and Roscosmos personnel, thereby calling into question the craft's space worthiness.

COLLINS AEROSPACE TO DEVELOP NEW NASA SPACE-SUITS

NASA has awarded a delivery order contract to Collins Aerospace to produce a spacewalking system, read space-suit for potential use outside the International Space Station.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC TO OPERATE FIRST 'NET ZERO' TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT

Virgin Atlantic is preparing to conduct the first flight from London to New York using a Boeing 787 aircraft powered solely by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

IATA CALLS FOR INCREASE IN SAF INCENTIVES

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production will reach at least 300 million litres in 2023, a 200 percent increase on 2021 production of 100 million litres.

REMOTE CARRIER DEMONSTRATOR RELEASED AND OPERATED FROM FLYING A400M FOR THE FIRST TIME

Germany's Bundeswehr, Airbus, the German Aerospace Center DLR and German companies SFL and Geradts have jointly carried out the world's first successful launch and operation of a remote carrier flight test demonstrator from a flying A400M.

HERMEUS GIVES SNEAK PEEK OF HYPERSONIC UNCREWED DARKHORSE

After its 'State of the Company' event, Hermeus shared a sneak peek of the Darkhorse. This uncrewed aerial system will service defence and intelligence customers. The company said this new aircraft will be capable of sustained hypersonic flight and have mission flexibility.

EMBRAER REVEALS SUSTAINABLE AIRCRAFT MODELS AS PART OF ENERGIA

As a part of the company's progress report on Energia, Embraer revealed new aircraft concepts. The initiative to achieve net zero by 2050 has led Embraer to focus on hybrid-electric designs and hydrogen-electric propulsion.

ROLLS-ROYCE CONDUCTS FIRST-EVER TEST OF HYDROGEN-POWERED REGIONAL JET ENGINE

Rolls-Royce claims it has conducted the 'world's first run' of a regional aircraft engine powered with hydrogen.

EMBRAER UPDATES ENERGIA CONCEPTS

Embraer announced plans to further explore two concepts for its Energia project, the Energia Hybrid Electric and Energia H2 Fuel Cell aircraft. 19- and 30-seat variants being considered for both models, which debuted last year as nine- and 19-seaters respectively.

AIRBUS TO DEVELOP HYDROGEN POWERED ENGINE

Airbus has announced that it is about the business of developing a hydrogen-powered fuel-cell engine. The hydrogen propulsion system is among the designs being considered to power a planned zero-emission commercial aircraft the consortium hopes to see in airline service by 2035.

AIRBUS AND ARIANEGROUP COLLABORATE ON HYDROGEN FUELLING FACILITY

ArianeGroup, a joint venture of Airbus and Safran and a worldleader in space propulsion technologies have announced they will work together to build the first liquid hydrogen refuelling facility for ZEROe aircraft at Toulouse, Blagnac airport (TLS). The station is slated to be operational in 2025.

SAMSON SWITCHBlade 'flying car' CLIMBS TO 100 RESERvations per month

Samson Sky, the creator of the futuristic Switchblade Flying Car, has reached more than 100 reservations per month in the last six months.