eVTOL Insights
• Thomas Sleightholm
The FAA said the awards will fund research and testing to support the safe expansion of drone operations in the National Airspace System. The articles provide no further details on the 19 recipients or individual project amounts; one separate report says related technology will be tested at Phoenix Sky Harbor, Deer Valley and Goodyear airports through year-end.
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The FAA said the awards will fund research and testing to support the safe expansion of drone operations in the National Airspace System. The articles provide no further details on the 19 recipients or individual project amounts; one separate report says related technology will be tested at Phoenix Sky Harbor, Deer Valley and Goodyear airports through year-end.
The first hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft could be considerably smaller than the aircraft discussed by the industry five years ago. The shift in expected size underscores how early hydrogen aviation may enter service on a more limited scale than earlier ambitions suggested.
ZeroAvia is targeting early 2027 to close a Series D round, with continued support for its UK operation hinging on fresh financing. Cumulative losses at the unit have topped £110 million, underscoring the funding requirement as the company seeks to sustain its operations.
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The French startup plans to use the funding to expand its fleet of autonomous hydrogen-powered airships, which inspect critical infrastructure and are already used by several major European operators. HyLight is targeting 15 aircraft operating simultaneously by 2027, as its airships take on some missions traditionally performed by helicopters.
Honeywell has integrated a power source for Project Newborn, which is proceeding to ground demonstration tests for hydrogen propulsion. The milestone moves the effort from system integration into testing, although the available information does not specify the power-source architecture, test schedule or propulsion system’s intended application.
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Rolls-Royce will lead Clean Aviation’s ELEVATED project to embed a hybrid-electric system into a donor gas-turbine engine, demonstrating propulsion technology for future ultra-efficient short- and medium-range aircraft. The initiative is part of €290 million in newly approved EU funding supporting 19 projects and €664 million in total research effort.
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Honeywell Aerospace and 17 European partners have made a reported breakthrough in developing a megawatt-class hydrogen-electric propulsion system. The effort marks progress toward higher-power hydrogen propulsion architectures, with potential relevance to future aircraft electrification and aviation decarbonization programs.
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