FutureFlight

Horizon Aircraft's founders recently bought themselves out of ownership by Astro Aerospace and are seeking Series A funding round backers to bring their five-passenger Cavorite X5 eVTOL aircraft to market. The company has built a half-scale prototype of the hybrid-electric vehicle and plans to start hover testing soon.

In its high-density vertiplex project, NASA engineers and pilots have employed simulations and live flight trials in their efforts to mature automation technology. Using the agency's Langley and Ames facilities, the research team has developed a prototype urban air mobility ecosystem covering aircraft operations, airspace, and fleet management.

Eve is on track to have its eVTOL aircraft in service by 2026, company officials told shareholders on August 4 as they revealed Eve’s first set of quarterly earnings since its initial public offering in May. 

Xeriant and XTI Aircraft say they still intend to complete a merger announced back in mid-2021 and also raise further funds through an uplisting to the Nasdaq stock market. In an August 3 press conference, XTI's new CEO, Michael Hinderberger, acknowledged that the timeline for starting production and deliveries for the six-passenger TriFan 600 VTOL aircraft has slipped from 2024 into 2027.

American Airlines has provisionally agreed to take as many as 100 of ZeroAvia's ZA2000 hydrogen propulsion systems, which could be used to convert up to 50 as-yet-unspecified regional jets. The agreement is part of an investment in the start-up, which says it has now raised more than $150 million in a Series B funding round that is also backed by International Airlines Group and Alaska Airlines.

Experts gathered at the Vertical Flight Society's recent Electric Aircraft Symposium pointed to numerous roadblocks to putting the proper infrastructure in place for advanced air mobility, such as raising sufficient capital, finding acceptable locations, and completing the appropriate studies.

The drone maintenance group Robotic Skies is teaming up with Continuum Applied Technology, the company behind Corridor aviation service software, to create maintenance technology solutions for next-generation uncrewed aircraft systems and advanced air mobility aircraft.

A $3.1 million investment from Singapore government-backed ST Engineering in Skyports further strengthens plans that the vertiport developer and commercial drone operator is advancing in the Southeast Asian city state. Skyports is already partnered with the aerospace and defense group in commercial drone operations and also has plans to develop vertiports for eVTOL air taxi services in Singapore.

Regent Craft is collaborating with Siemens Digital Industries Software to streamline the development and production of its all-electric seagliders. The Boston-based startup announced on August 2 that it has adopted the Siemens Xcelerator software as a service (XaaS) to support the design, engineering, and development of its seaglider, a new type of vehicle that the company says will revolutionize transportation between coastal cities. 

Ascendance Flight Technologies says it now holds letters of intent covering 245 deliveries of its four-passenger, hybrid-electric Atea eVTOL aircraft, which is expected to operate on sectors of up to around 400 km. The French company has already flown subscale models and conducted wind tunnel tests as it builds a full-scale prototype that should take to the air in 2023, en route to projected EASA type certification in 2025.