Heart Aerospace is opening a research and development hub in the U.S. as it steps up work on its 30-seat hybrid-electric regional airliner. Announcing the move this week, the Sweden-based company said the new facility will support the ES-30 program as it starts a new phase of hardware testing.
The hub in Los Angeles will focus mainly on the aircraft's hybrid-electric propulsion system. Heart will move its full-scale demonstrator aircraft to the U.S.
The company also announced the appointment of Benjamin Stabler as chief technology officer; he will recruit and lead a U.S. team working with Heart’s headquarters in Gothenburg. Stabler previously led the hardware and software team for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon program and was co-founder of electric freight rail specialist Parallel System.
In February, Heart closed a Series B funding round that raised $107 million. A company spokeswoman said that the U.S., where it has had a presence for some time, is an attractive venue for recruiting talent and having access to government funding.
The ES-30 is expected to have an all-electric range of around 109 nm, which would double to 218 nm when operating in hybrid mode. According to Heart, it has secured 250 provisional orders for the aircraft, with options, purchase rights, and letters of intent covering another 311 units.
Heart will seek initial type certification in Europe and aims to achieve this in 2028. Co-founder and CEO Anders Forslund said the company aims to start flight demonstrations in 2025.