FutureFlight

New companies such as electric propulsion retrofit provider Aviathor and hydrogen propulsion pioneer Beyond Aerospace will be among the first cohort of start-ups selected for Starburst Aerospace's new Blast accelerator program for aerospace entrepreneurs. The group is signing up investors for a new fund that from the end of 2021 will provide fresh capital for companies in the advanced air mobility space.

With Archer's merger with Atlas, and resulting share flotation which is expected to be completed later this year, the eVTOL aircraft developer has nominated senior business leaders from NASA, United Airlines, Mitsubishi, and Ernst & Young to join the board of the restructured company. As the former chairman and CEO of United Airlines until May, Oscar Munoz approved the carrier's agreement to buy up to 200 of Archer's four-passenger air taxi vehicles.

At the recent EAA AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Opener demonstrated its BlackFly single-seat eVTOL aircraft in the event's flying display and also exhibited simulators that it will use to train owner-pilots. The secretive U.S. company for the first time disclosed some information about the model's performance and specifications and said that it will open its order book before the end of 2021.

The successful closing of a $40 million Series A funding round will support Elroy Air's efforts to bring the Chaparral autonomous, heavy-lift, long-haul drone into service for commercial freight operations, and a variety of military and logistics applications. The start-up's new backers include defense aerospace group Lockheed Martin and venture capitalists Marlinspike and Prosperity7 Ventures.

The new Hydrogen Aviation Test and Service Center in Washington state will be used to complete development work for plans to convert Dash 8 and ATR42 regional airliners to hydrogen propulsion systems. The new facility is being established by Universal Hydrogen with its partners Plug Power, MagniX and AeroTec.

Joby is set to go public on August 11 when shares in the company created through a merger between the eVTOL aircraft developer and special purpose acquisition company Reinvent Technology Partners are floated on the New York Stock Exchange. Visitors to Joby's new Washington, D.C. office can now experience eVTOL flight in a simulator installed there.

DHL Express has agreed to buy 12 of the freighter version of Eviation's Alice all-electric airplane, which is also being offered for passenger services. The package delivery group intends to use the new eCargo version of the aircraft to support feeder routes from smaller airfields where it can be recharged at a rate of 30 minutes per flight hour.

Rolls-Royce will partner with Purdue University and the university's research foundation to expand its hybrid-electric engine research and development capabilities. The work at the Purdue Aerospace Technology Center will focus on high-altitude and hybrid-electric powerplants for the U.S. military.

Students from Delft University of Technology will start testing their unmanned Phoenix PT prototype with electric batteries before converting it to hydrogen power. During the course of the next academic year, the multinational AeroDelft team will also build a piloted prototype called the Phoenix FS that is based on a kit-built, four-seat Sling 4 airplane.

Lilium announced the $1 billion aircraft purchase agreement with Brazilian airline Azul as it prepares to complete a Nasdaq flotation through a merger with Qell Acquisition Corp. Azul will operate and maintain a fleet of 220 Lilium Jets, while the German manufacturer provides batteries, spare parts, and an aircraft health monitoring system.