FutureFlight

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.

Hybrid-electric propulsion specialist VerdeGo Aero will be working with aircraft engines giant Pratt & Whitney after the latter's Raytheon Technologies parent company led a $12 million Series A funding round for the Florida-based start-up. The partnership has the potential to significantly expand the scope of how VerdeGo Aero's latest 185-kW VH-3 generator is used in multiple hybrid-electric powertrains and could lead to further scaling up in power outputs.

Textron's new eAviation division now says it has resumed work on Bell's planned Nexus eVTOL aircraft and may be ready to start test flights in a couple of years. The program, which last year appeared to be suspended, is now being advanced with support from Textron Aviation, automotive supplier Kautex, and newly acquired electric aviation specialist Pipistrel.

Honeywell Aerospace will provide flight control actuation and thermal management systems for Archer’s in-development four-passenger eVTOL aircraft. This week, Archer reported that it has completed the second of three phases of flight testing with its Maker technology demonstrator.

At a purpose-built facility within its Donauwörth complex in Germany, Airbus Helicopters will conduct testing and development work for its planned four-passenger eVTOL aircraft. The European aerospace group has named multiple partners for the program and aims to complete type certification in 2025.

Xwing is reporting rapid growth in both its commercial cargo operations and its workforce as it steps up efforts to gain approval for fully autonomous operations with converted aircraft like the Cessna Grand Caravan.

Another leading carmaker is entering the advanced air mobility market. Volkswagen’s Chinese subsidiary this week confirmed its intention to develop an eVTOL aircraft. Plans unveiled in Beijing on July 27 show an early prototype of a four-passenger eVTOL that the company says will be able to fly up to 200 kilometers (125 miles). It will feature eight rotors installed on an X-wing structure and a pair of propellers for cruise flight.