AMSL Aero secures $3 million to progress Australian LH2 aviation
Project goals include designing LH2 refueling systems, validating power distribution and fuel measurement in flight, and gathering evidence to support future national regulatory frameworks.
Associate senior engineer Alfie Swallow works on AMSL Aero's hydrogen fuel cell. Source | Peter Morris/AMSL Aero
(Sydney, Australia) has secured $3 million in grant funding from the Australian federal government to develop and demonstrate liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft for regional and remote Australia. The platform being used is the company’s hydrogen-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft Vertiia, which comprises an electric motor with a battery, a hydrogen fuel cell and a composite tank.
The 2-year project, called Liquid Hydrogen Powered Aircraft for Regional and Remote Australia, is worth $7.56 million in total. It was awarded by the Australian Government Department of Industry Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) Program.
AMSL Aero will collaborate with liquid hydrogen (LH2) company Fabrum, Monash University and Deakin University to address the technical, regulatory and safety challenges of hydrogen-powered eVTOL aircraft in real-world environments. The project will focus on designing safe LH2 refueling systems, testing advanced fuel measurement and power distribution during various stages of flight of Vertiia, securing evidence for the development of national regulatory pathways, and demonstrating refueling procedures integrated with aircraft systems.
Vertiia is a new generation of aircraft that take off and land like a helicopter but fly fast and smoothly like a fixed-wing airplane.
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