FutureFlight

Destinus has raised $29 million to support work on twin propulsion systems that will support subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic flight in an autonomous hyperplane it aims to bring to market by 2027. Initially, the autonomous, "near-space" aircraft will carry cargo but later plans envisage passenger flights at speeds that would allow it to reach anywhere in the world in just one or two hours.

The Jetcruzer 450 and 500 fixed-wing aircraft have been mothballed since 2004 but could now be resurrected with electric and hybrid-electric propulsion. The new owners of the prototypes and associated intellectual property are seeking investors to finance efforts to bring the fresh versions to market.

The U.S. Air Force's Afwerx program has chosen 11 companies to work on the next phases of its High-Speed Vertical Takeoff and Landing Concept Challenge. These include eVTOL developer Jaunt Air Mobility, which will now complete work on a design intended to meet a complex array of military requirements.

Under the partnership announced on February 8, electric-propulsion specialist MagniX would collaborate with Desaer on an ATL-100H hybrid variant that would be powered by two magni350 electric-propulsion units and two turboprop engines. The aircraft is mainly intended to serve as a regional airliner in the same class as 19-seaters like the Dornier Do-228.

Vertical Aerospace's eVTOL program partners already include Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace, Honeywell, Solvay, and Microsoft, and a new agreement will see Leonardo making composite fuselages for its VX4 aircraft. The announcement signals the Italian aerospace and defense group's intention to enter the advanced air mobility sector.

The U.S. Air Force seeks to speed up development and flight testing of Electra's eSTOL aircraft through a new Phase III small business innovation research contract. The company expects to start flying a full-scale technology demonstrator before the end of 2022.

Telecommunications group SK Telecom will support Joby's efforts to establish ride-hailing eVTOL flight services in South Korea as part of the Korean Urban Air Mobility plan, launched by the Asian country's government in 2020. Plans call for Joby's commercial flights to use SK's T Map Mobility platform and the UT ride-hailing service that it launched in 2021.

Building on an October 2020 agreement with NASA, GE Aviation is stepping up the development of a hybrid-electric propulsion system that could be used either to retrofit existing aircraft or power new designs. Boeing's Aurora Flight Sciences subsidiary will help to prepare a Saab 340 twin turboprop regional airliner to be used as a flying testbed that will use both a pair of GE's CT7-9B engines and a combined electric motor/generator unit with batteries to store electric power.

It's one thing to test new eVTOL aircraft and autonomous vehicles in remote desert areas, but quite another to see how these will perform in more populated environments that are closer to where these modes of transportation will likely earn their livings. The Mobility Innovation Zone at Fort Worth Alliance Airport was conceived by real estate group Hillwood with just this sort of challenge in mind, and it's looking to attract more aviation pioneers to incubate technology there.

Bell executives are pleased with the maturation of its Autonomous Pod Transport and believe the program is ready for pilot partnerships and commercialization in the air freight sector. As part of the maturation and in conjunction with NASA, Bell recently tested its capabilities in complex airspace using ground-based radar sensors in flight trials conducted at the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.