Schlagwort-Archive: electric plane

Cosmic wants to build an electric aircraft flying 1’000 km

Cosmic Aerospace (Cosmic), a US-European aerospace startup, has raised $4.5 million in seed financing to accelerate the development of the world’s first electric aircraft capable of flying up to 1,000 kilometers (more than 600 miles), representing a step change in range among current electric aircraft offerings.

Instead of relying on future battery improvements, Cosmic is focusing its engineering efforts on the development of a highly efficient airframe and propulsion system, unlocking flight ranges that elevate electric aircraft from a niche product into the mainstream aviation market.

The company has already built and tested a full-scale operational electric engine in record time. The new funds will boost the development of Cosmic’s unique embedded wing design, a key enabler for achieving the breakthrough energy efficiency that the company is targeting. The first full-scale flight demonstrator is on track for its first flight in 2026, with entry into service targeted at the end of the decade.

Christopher Chahine, co-founder and CEO of Cosmic, asserts that the technology exists to build long-range electric aircraft, but needs to be developed into a commercial product that is certifiable in current and future regulatory frameworks.

The seed round was led by climate tech-focused venture capital firm Pale Blue Dot with participation from deep tech and fellow climate tech investors including Aera VC, Visionaries Club TOMORROW, Fifty Years, Possible Ventures, Syndicate One, Course Corrected, Understorey Capital and Samurai Incubate.

“We are incredibly impressed by the pragmatic development approach the team at Cosmic has demonstrated and are convinced that this is the right way forward to enable a truly meaningful decarbonization of aviation. We are excited to back Cosmic and believe the team has what it takes to lead the aviation industry into a sustainable future”, said Joel Larsson, General Partner at Pale Blue Dot.

Cosmic is in conversation with various airlines and other key stakeholders across the aviation industry. The team brings a unique blend of experiences across technology, industry, and certification, which puts them in an exceptional position to lead the transition toward sustainable electric aviation. Source: ‚Cosmicaerospace‚.

NASA gets closer to crewed flight tests for its all-electric X-57 Maxwell

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NASA is edging nearer to its first flight test for its all-electric experimental „X-plane“ X-57 Maxwell after completing ground tests on the aircraft, a blog post from the space agency reveals. The space agency’s series of X-planes also includes its X-59 QueSST „quiet“ supersonic jet and its hypersonic X-43A scramjet.

The X-57 has made „substantial contributions“ to electric aircraft propulsion
The X-57 program began in 2016 as part of NASA’s Scalable Convergent Electric Propulsion Technology Operations Research Project (SCEPTOR). NASA set out to build a low-emissions aircraft using electric propulsion to test whether such a machine would be viable for commercial transport. The space agency started off by converting an Italian Tecnam P2006T into an electric aircraft, the „Maxwell“, by adding two electric motors made by Joby Aviation in place of the original Rotax engines. „The X-57 project has made substantial contributions to the field of electric aircraft propulsion as an initial pathfinder building a knowledge base of expertise that is influencing industry standards and contributing to future electric vehicle demonstrations,“ said Heather Maliska, X-57 project manager at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The all-electric aircraft has now completed its ground tests meaning it is closer to liftoff. Back in October 2021, NASA announced it would conduct its first crewed flight this year following its ground tests.

Will the X-57 Maxwell prove the viability of electric flight?
The X-57 was designed to have zero in-flight emissions. The aircraft uses a unique high aspect ratio wing design to make it as efficient as possible for electrified flight. However, doubts remain as to whether the results of X-57’s flight tests will lead to commercial flight, or simply help to invigorate the pursuit of other means such as hydrogen aircraft. According to NASA, the X-57 will have a range of about 100 miles and a cruise speed of 172 mph (276 km/h), meaning it will be able to fly for roughly 40 minutes at a time. Though electric cars are set to replace internal combustion engine vehicles in the coming decades, the power required for an aircraft to take off as well as the weight of the large batteries required for aviation means other alternatives are likely required for long-haul airliners. Airbus, for example, is testing a hydrogen engine as well as drop-in fuels on its Airbus A380 model. Nevertheless, NASA aims to push the technology it is built for the X-57 to the limits, and it will also build a hybrid version once the all-electric model has safely taken to the skies. Source: ‚interestingenigneering.com‚.

Rolls-Royce’s Spirit of Innovation electric plane ’smashes‘ world record

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The aerospace giant has carried out three flight runs at an MoD site in Boscombe Down in Wiltshire. Rolls-Royce’s battery-powered plane has “smashed” the fastest all-electric flight world record, the aerospace giant has announced. The ‘Spirit of Innovation’ aircraft took off from the Ministry of Defence’s Boscombe Down site in Wiltshire and reached a top speed of 345.4mph over three kilometres, breaking the existing record by 132mph.

Rolls-Royce has submitted the data to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) – the World Air Sports Federation which controls and certifies world aeronautical and astronautical records – for approval. In further runs at the experimental aircraft testing site, the plane reached 330mph over 15 kilometres – 182mph faster than the previous record – and broke the fastest time to climb to 3,000 metres by 60 seconds with a time of 202 seconds, Rolls-Royce said. During the flight runs, the aircraft clocked up a top speed of 387.4mph. The plane was flown over three kilometres by the project’s chief test pilot Phill O’Dell, who was in the Royal Air Force for 17 years. Steve Jones flew the aircraft for the 15km and the time to climb to 3,000 metres record runs that have been submitted. Mr O’Dell said: “Flying the ‘Spirit of Innovation’ at these incredible speeds and believing we have broken the world record for all-electric flight is a momentous occasion.

“This is the highlight of my career and is an incredible achievement for the whole team. The opportunity to be at the forefront of another pioneering chapter of Rolls-Royce’s story as we look to deliver the future of aviation is what dreams are made of.” The plane was powered by a 400kW (500 hp) electric powertrain with the most power-dense battery pack ever assembled for an aircraft, Rolls-Royce said. The technology for the plane was developed at Gloucestershire Airport by the ACCEL – or Accelerating the Electrification of Flight – programme, before moving to Wiltshire for the flight testing phase. Partners include Oxford-based electric motor and controller manufacturer YASA and aviation start-up Electroflight in Gloucestershire. Source: ‚BusinessLive‘.