FutureFlight

Joby Aviation has delivered an air taxi to the Edwards Air Force Base in California about six months ahead of schedule, marking the first-ever delivery of an eVTOL aircraft to a paying customer in the U.S., the company announced Monday. 

Supernal, Hyundai’s urban air mobility subsidiary, has officially opened its research and development facility in Fremont, California, the company announced Thursday. Located right on the edge of Silicon Valley, the 72,000-sq-ft facility is dedicated to the advancement of batteries, autonomous systems, and other technologies that will enable electric air travel and urban air mobility. 

VoltAero has successfully flown its hybrid-electric Cassio testbed using 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) provided by TotalEnergies. According to VoltAero, this was the first time any aircraft with a hybrid-electric powertrain has flown on pure SAF, a biofuel that is typically blended with traditional jet fuel. 

Moya Aero Selected for Techstars Start-up Seed Stage Accelerator

Lilium has started assembling the first of the seven aircraft it will use to complete type certification for its six-passenger eVTOL vehicles. Announcing the milestone on September 19, the German company said it is on track to achieve a first crewed flight with the Lilium Jet in late 2024.

Airbus sees ZeroAvia as a potential ally in its ZeroE project to develop hydrogen-powered airliners by the mid-2030s. With the backing of the European aerospace group, plus more funding from Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital and the Saudi government-backed Neom project, ZeroAvia aims to start bringing existing aircraft converted with its hydrogen fuel cell systems into commercial service by 2025.

The Seoul-based Solyu leasing group wants to be part of South Korea's drive to embrace advanced air mobility services and has provisionally agreed to buy up to 50 of SkyDrive's three-seat SD-05 eVTOL aircraft. The agreement builds on its decision earlier this month to purchase 25 of Eviation's Alice electric airplane.

Joby Aviation will mass-produce its four-passenger eVTOL in Dayton, Ohio—home of the Wright Brothers. The California-based eVTOL aircraft developer announced on Monday that it will build its first scaled production facility at Dayton International Airport, where it intends to manufacture hundreds of aircraft per year together with its partner Toyota. 

Two years ahead of its target for bringing hydrogen-powered aircraft to market in 2025, Universal Hydrogen has filed its application for an FAA supplemental type certificate and has been granted the G-1 issue paper. The company will now be stepping up ground and flight testing that recently got underway to generate the data needed for the approval process.

Beta Technologies, a Vermont-based company developing electric aircraft along with a network of charging stations, is expanding its partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense to install an aircraft charger at Eglin Air Force Base in western Florida. Later this year, Beta will send its Alia aircraft to Eglin, where the Air Force will use it for “on-base experimentation” as part of its ongoing efforts to explore defense applications for electric aircraft such as Beta’s Alia.