HevenDrones has made good on its pledge at the outset of the year to introduce three hydrogen-powered UAVs during 2023 with today’s unveiling of two new craft in its H2D200 drone series.
H2FLY, the German affiliate of air taxi developer Joby, has passed a major technological and aviation milestone in clear power transportation, with the successful test flights of what it hailed as the world’s first piloted electric aircraft fueled by liquid hydrogen.
Israel-based hydrogen-powered UAV developer HevenDrones is keeping a very close eye on work in the UK toward creating a 165-mile “drone superhighway,” which is intended to enable a broadening range and rate of aerial activity and services across a huge swath of the nation. Although it is not yet involved in what are the still preliminary stages of that British project, HevenDrones CEO Bentzion Levinson says he believes the program’s potential for rapidly, radically transforming UAV systems, regulations, operation, and tech – including power sources like hydrogen permitting far longer flights – is enormous, and something he’d be keen to join when the time is right.
DroneUp, the drone delivery company that Walmart is using, says it plans to test new hydrogen fuel cell technology that has the potential to increase a drone’s flight time to two to five hours.
HevenDrones is pursuing its efforts to produce longer-lasting, sustainable alternatives to lithium battery-powered UAV flights with today’s introduction of its first hydrogen-fueled H2D55 drone.
Middle-mile European drone delivery specialist Dronamics is joining forces with groundbreaking aviation tech developer Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (CAeS) in an effort to perfect clean hydrogen fuel cells to power the company’s Black Swan cargo UAVs.
South Korean developer of hydrogen power units for drones, Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI), has raised $22 million in new funding to muscle up its production of longer-flying, emission-free water-based fuel cells for drones.
US aviation giant Honeywell has launched a new technology cluster that, among other things, will permit drones to fly longer beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) missions and carry heavier payloads by using hydrogen fuel cells.
Drone pilots dreaming of longer, cleaner flights powered by hydrogen cells, take heart. This week opens with news indicating development and use of the technology is really taking wing.
A flurry of announcements this week suggests the promise of hydrogen cells extending drone flight time to two hours or more may come within reach to individual as well as enterprise users before too long.