FutureFlight

Volocopter has completed a two-week flight-test campaign as part of Europe’s CORUS-XUAM project to establish how so-called U-Space infrastructure for uncrewed aircraft could be used to support urban air mobility (UAM) flights. The German eVTOL aircraft developer deployed its VoloDrone autonomous vehicle for flight trials that concluded this week at the country’s DLR National Experimental Test Centre for Unmanned Aircraft at Magdeburg-Cochstedt Airport.

In May 2023, up to 25 teams will compete in the Pulitzer Electric Aircraft Race along a 1,000-nm route between Eppeley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, and Dare County Regional Airport (KMQI) near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The National Aeronautic Association has opened the registration process for any electric-powered aircraft, including new eVTOL models, fixed-wing airplanes, and helicopters.

Airbus is accelerating work on the development of a hydrogen-powered fuel cell engine as part of its studies into a zero-emission aircraft scheduled for service entry by 2035. The European aerospace group company revealed its plans during a Sustainability Summit held in Toulouse, France, on November 30.

VPorts, a Canadian advanced air mobility (AAM) start-up with plans to build a vertiport network in Québec, has announced what the company says will be the first-ever international AAM corridor for electric aircraft. The company plans to launch an eVTOL flight route between the existing Helico heliport in Mirabel, near Montreal, and Syracuse Hancock International Airport (KSYR) in Syracuse, New York.

Vietnamese renewable-energy company Pacific Group has preordered 10 SD-05 eVTOL aircraft from Japan’s SkyDrive, the companies announced on November 28. Under a memorandum of understanding, Pacific Group conditionally agreed to purchase the aircraft, with an option to order up to 90 more.

Eve Air Mobility has signed a letter of intent with vertiport infrastructure group Bluenest to include the Spanish company in its urban air traffic management software development partnership. Eve intends to offer software to support automated vertiport operations for any type of eVTOL aircraft.

Five leading aerospace companies have joined forces to develop hybrid-electric and water-enhanced turbofan engine technology for future airliner propulsion systems.

Under the auspices of the United Nations-backed Race to Zero campaign to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, Rolls-Royce is partnered with low-cost airline EasyJet to develop a hydrogen propulsion system for narrowbody airliners like its fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft. In ground tests, an AE 2100 A turboprop engine was used as a demonstrator and burned green hydrogen produced from wind and tidal energy in the Orkney Islands of Scotland.

Aura Network Systems, a Virginia-based company developing a wireless communications network for remotely piloted aircraft, has raised $75 million in its latest funding round. The company aims to provide an FAA-compliant nationwide network, using a licensed aviation spectrum in the 450 MHz band, to enable and accelerate the integration of remotely piloted and autonomous flight operations in the National Airspace System.

The European Commission wants its EGNOS satellite navigation system to support aviation operations, including new eVTOL aircraft for urban air mobility services and uncrewed vehicles needing to operate safely in public airspace. The Satellite Based Augmentation System Adoption in Multicopter VTOL Aircraft (SAMVA) program is part of efforts to prepare for this outcome, and eVTOL developer EHang is participating in the project.