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Vertical Launches UK's Top Aerospace Battery Facility, Vertical Energy Centre

Vertical Aerospace | March 16, 2023 | Read time : 02:25 min

Vertical Launches UK's Top Aerospace Battery Facility, Vertical

Vertical Aerospace, an aerospace and technology company innovating zero-emissions aviation, recently announced the opening of the Vertical Energy Centre (VEC) in Bristol, considered the UK's most advanced aerospace battery facility. The Vertical Energy Centre (VEC) will help develop, test, and commercialize Vertical's custom-made battery pack for its VX4 aircraft.

The multimillion-pound, cutting-edge, 15,000-square-foot facility is one of the most reliable aerospace battery facilities in the United Kingdom. It is home to Vertical's current 50-person battery team, comprised of experts from McLaren, the European Space Agency, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls-Royce, Airbus, and Dyson, who develop battery technology that enables greater power-to-weight ratios for eVTOL flight. It is expected that cutting-edge technologies will transform the capabilities of battery technology to date.

Vertical's battery systems have experienced a wide range of testing, including vibration, conducted emissions, temperature, thermal durability and characterization, propagation and drop testing at the VEC. It has made significant progress with battery tests in the past, having conducted crash and thermal runaway testing under the supervision of European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority. Vertical's Head of Powertrain, Dr. Limhi Somerville, leads the eVTOL EuroCAE electrical certification group, defining the battery standards for electric aviation with European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

In addition, Vertical has developed substantial intellectual property around battery design, including cooling, cell packaging, and electronic battery management systems to deliver high-power, improved-performance battery packs capable of powering eVTOL aircraft. With its goal of entering into service with a 220Wh/kg battery system, developed intellectual property will allow Vertical's VX4 to conduct back-to-back missions, having fast-charging cycles in between, and minimize the impact on the packs' cycle life.

About Vertical Aerospace

Vertical Aerospace is one of the leaders in the creation of electric aviation. Stephen Fitzpatrick, a leading energy and technology group and Europe's largest independent energy retailer, an established entrepreneur, and the founder of the Ovo Group, founded Vertical Aerospace in 2016. The company has concentrated on assembling the most seasoned and senior team in the eVTOL industry, whose members are certified and support over 30 distinct civil and military aircraft and propulsion systems. Vertical's VX4 eVTOL is anticipated to be competent to transport a pilot and up to four passengers over distances of up to 100 miles, at a cruise speed of 150 miles per hour, with minimal noise and zero operating emissions.

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After 15 years, Delta has historically returned to London Gatwick with daily flights utilising its Boeing 767. The return also marks a more monumental anniversary of connecting the U.K. and the U.S. by the primary carrier. Please tune in for the latest on Delta, their return to the secondary London Airport, and the subsequent opportunities it'll bring.

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Historic Delta News

After 15 years, Delta has historically returned to London Gatwick with daily flights utilising its Boeing 767. The return also marks a more monumental anniversary of connecting the U.K. and the U.S. by the primary carrier. Please tune in for the latest on Delta, their return to the secondary London Airport, and the subsequent opportunities it'll bring.

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Sierra Space Advances Future of Space Habitation in Low-Earth Orbit and Deep Space with LIFE™ Test

Businesswire | March 27, 2023

Sierra Space, a leading, pureplay commercial space company building the first end-to-end business and technology platform in space, announced today it continues to make critical strides in the development of its softgoods inflatable technology — LIFE™ habitat (Large Integrated Flexible Environment) – solidifying its lead in the industry. The company’s LIFE testing campaign, a combined effort with NASA test engineers, passed another milestone on the path to building a full-scale habitat product line with various architectures to enable human missions to low-Earth orbit, the moon and deep space. This milestone affirms Sierra Space’s position as the industry leader in inflatable space habitats and the only active commercial company to build human-rated structures. The company also announced that it signed a new Space Act Agreement for an expanded partnership with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), which will further accelerate LIFE development. Another successful test In February, Sierra Space performed a month-long Accelerated Systematic Creep (ASC) test on LIFE – the first milestone in its 2023 testing campaign. Engineers loaded a one-third-scale version of the inflatable habitat with a sustained amount of pressure over an extended period until it failed. Per NASA’s recommended guidelines for inflatable softgoods certification, the test reached its goal of generating an additional data point – pressure and time to burst – which can be used to estimate the life of the primary pressure shell structure. View video and photos here. “Our testing campaign has demonstrated that our LIFE habitat pressure shell design has a predicted life of far greater than 60 years – or 525,600 hours – based on Sierra Space’s 15-year on-orbit life requirement and the applied 4x safety factor,” said Sierra Space Chief Engineer for LIFE, Shawn Buckley. “We are obviously simulating pressures well in excess of the norm. Test after (extreme) test, we continue to exceed our program requirements, validating that LIFE’s design, manufacturing, and assembly methods are consistent and repeatable.” The next series of one-third-scale LIFE certification tests will focus on inserting hard structures into the pressure shell and correlating the results to previous tests. Sierra Space anticipates moving toward full-scale LIFE habitat tests later this year. Expanded presence in Huntsville, Ala. Thanks to a recently signed Space Act Agreement with NASA, Sierra Space will expand its collaborative environment with Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), in Huntsville, Ala., to continue critical work on LIFE. The agreement supports ongoing design and development of LIFE test articles; a full-scale engineering mockup – the size of a three-story apartment building – will move to MSFC from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Alabama is the seventh location across the nation where Sierra Space operates facilities, joining Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C. Sierra Space, NASA and ILC Dover subject matter experts performed the recent ASC test inside a specially built, climate-controlled building at MSFC, adjacent to the flame trench of the Saturn 1/1B test stand — where NASA tested rockets for the Apollo program. This location is optimum for softgoods inflatable destructive testing in both performance and observation. ILC Dover is Sierra Space’s softgoods provider. “NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center has a rich history in leading highly-complex testing for innovative systems and technologies,” said Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice. “Under this new Space Act Agreement, we’re expanding our collaboration activities with Marshall, where we will be able to tap into that wealth of expertise, talent and facility capabilities at a much deeper level.” Sierra Space’s LIFE is a key component of the company’s in-space destinations technology portfolio. The inflatable module is a three-story commercial habitation, science and bio pharma platform designed to allow humans to live and work comfortably in low-Earth orbit and beyond. LIFE will serve as both the habitation and payload element for the Orbital Reef commercial space station, a collaboration between Sierra Space and Blue Origin. About Sierra Space Sierra Space is a leading, pureplay commercial space company at the forefront of innovation and the commercialization of space in the Orbital Age™, building an end-to-end business and technology platform in space to benefit life on Earth. With more than 30 years and 500 missions of space flight heritage, the company is enabling the future of space transportation with Dream Chaser®, the world’s only commercial spaceplane, and is bringing LIFE™ to low-Earth orbit with its modular, three-story commercial habitation and science platform. Both Dream Chaser and LIFE are central components to Orbital Reef, a mixed-use business park in LEO being developed by principal partners Sierra Space and Blue Origin, which is expected to be operational by the end of the decade. Sierra Space also builds and delivers a host of systems and subsystems across solar power, mechanics and motion control, environmental control, life support, propulsion and thermal control, offering myriad space-as-a-service solutions for the new space economy.

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CDB Aviation Delivers First of Two A321NX Aircraft to Volaris

Businesswire | May 05, 2023

CDB Aviation, a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (“CDB Leasing”), announced today the delivery of the first of two A321neo aircraft fitted with Airbus’ Cabin Flex (“A321NX”) to its long-standing customer, Volaris (Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V.). The delivery is part of the lease agreements signed with the airline in 2021, which forms part of the 13 total number of CDB Aviation aircraft on lease to Volaris. The carrier is expected to take delivery of the second A321NX by the end of 2023, with an additional three A321neos and two A320neos slated for delivery throughout 2023 and 2024. “We’re thrilled to be celebrating with the Volaris team this inaugural delivery of a GTF-powered A321NX from our orderbook,” said Luís da Silva, CDB Aviation’s Head of Commercial, Americas. “With the latest technologies that improve efficiency and sustainability, this aircraft is ideally suited to expand the reach of Volaris’ market-dominant domestic brand to markets in North and Latin America.” “We appreciate the ongoing partnership with our colleagues at CDB Aviation in meeting the needs of our fleet renewal strategy that will ensure our airline’s sustainable growth in the long term,” commented Holger Blankenstein, Volaris’ Executive Vice President. “With one of the youngest, most fuel-efficient fleets in the Americas, our team remains committed to bringing the region’s passengers the best flying experience and the most modern technology aircraft.” Jie Chen, CDB Aviation Chief Executive Officer, concluded: “Our commercial team’s goal is to be a partner that our customers can trust and rely on to execute. We’re very pleased to continue deepening our relationship with Mexico’s largest domestic carrier as they are positioning their leading brand to benefit from a rapid resurgence of post-pandemic air travel in North and Latin America.” About CDB Aviation CDB Aviation is a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (“CDB Leasing”) a 38-year-old Chinese leasing company that is backed mainly by the China Development Bank. CDB Aviation is rated Investment Grade by Moody’s (A2), S&P Global (A), and Fitch (A+). China Development Bank is under the direct jurisdiction of the State Council of China and is the world’s largest development finance institution. It is also the largest Chinese bank for foreign investment and financing cooperation, long-term lending and bond issuance, enjoying Chinese sovereign credit rating. About Volaris Volaris or the “Company”, is an ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC), with point-to-point operations, serving Mexico, the United States, Central and South America. Volaris offers low base fares to build its market, providing quality service and extensive customer choice. Since beginning operations in March 2006, Volaris has increased its routes from five to 202 and its fleet from four to 120 aircraft. Volaris offers more than 550 daily flight segments on routes that connect 43 cities in Mexico and 28 cities in the United States with one of the youngest fleets in The Americas. Volaris targets passengers who are visiting friends and relatives and cost-conscious business and leisure travelers in Mexico and in selected destinations in the United States, Central and South America.

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Skyryse Expands To New Headquarters Amid Significant Growth Targeting Massive Revolution In General Aviation

PRnewswire | March 28, 2023

Skyryse, bringing trust, safety, and the accessibility of flight through a highly-automated and touchscreen flight control system, opened the doors to its new El Segundo headquarters this week. As the company continues to hire aviation and aerospace talent and charges toward certification, it has outgrown its 9,000 sq. ft. office space and opens its doors to a new state-of-the-art workspace in El Segundo, widely recognized as the aerospace capital of the world. After quickly building a top-notch aviation engineering team and implementing a highly experienced leadership organization, Skyryse grew from 30 employees at the beginning of 2022 and closed the year with 90 employees. As the company continues to scale development and secures a supplemental type certificate for its one-of-a-kind airframe-agnostic flight deck, the company has opened a second state-of-the-art development facility near its headquarters in El Segundo. "We are growing at a rapid clip and continue to look for top engineering talent to join our mission of reducing general aviation accidents, making flight simpler and safer, and revolutionizing the future of transportation," said Dr. Mark Groden, Founder and CEO of Skyryse. "We've put a lot of thought into creating an environment that communicates our vision of bringing the freedom and joy of safer flight right in the middle of one of the largest aerospace hubs in the U.S." In October of 2021, Skyryse closed a $205M Series B funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research Company and Monashee Investment Management, the largest Series B fundraise in aerospace history. About Skyryse Los Angeles-based Skyryse is bringing trust, safety, and the accessibility of flight for all through FlightOS, its easy and intuitive integrated flight control system. FlightOS removes many complexities of managing an aircraft during standard flight operations, inclement weather, and emergencies. Skyryse has raised more than $260 million from leading investors, including Fidelity Management & Research Company, Monashee Investment Management, ArrowMark Partners, Venrock, Eclipse Ventures, Cantos, Stanford University, and Bill Ford, Executive Chair, Ford Motor Company.

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Sierra Space Advances Future of Space Habitation in Low-Earth Orbit and Deep Space with LIFE™ Test

Businesswire | March 27, 2023

Sierra Space, a leading, pureplay commercial space company building the first end-to-end business and technology platform in space, announced today it continues to make critical strides in the development of its softgoods inflatable technology — LIFE™ habitat (Large Integrated Flexible Environment) – solidifying its lead in the industry. The company’s LIFE testing campaign, a combined effort with NASA test engineers, passed another milestone on the path to building a full-scale habitat product line with various architectures to enable human missions to low-Earth orbit, the moon and deep space. This milestone affirms Sierra Space’s position as the industry leader in inflatable space habitats and the only active commercial company to build human-rated structures. The company also announced that it signed a new Space Act Agreement for an expanded partnership with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), which will further accelerate LIFE development. Another successful test In February, Sierra Space performed a month-long Accelerated Systematic Creep (ASC) test on LIFE – the first milestone in its 2023 testing campaign. Engineers loaded a one-third-scale version of the inflatable habitat with a sustained amount of pressure over an extended period until it failed. Per NASA’s recommended guidelines for inflatable softgoods certification, the test reached its goal of generating an additional data point – pressure and time to burst – which can be used to estimate the life of the primary pressure shell structure. View video and photos here. “Our testing campaign has demonstrated that our LIFE habitat pressure shell design has a predicted life of far greater than 60 years – or 525,600 hours – based on Sierra Space’s 15-year on-orbit life requirement and the applied 4x safety factor,” said Sierra Space Chief Engineer for LIFE, Shawn Buckley. “We are obviously simulating pressures well in excess of the norm. Test after (extreme) test, we continue to exceed our program requirements, validating that LIFE’s design, manufacturing, and assembly methods are consistent and repeatable.” The next series of one-third-scale LIFE certification tests will focus on inserting hard structures into the pressure shell and correlating the results to previous tests. Sierra Space anticipates moving toward full-scale LIFE habitat tests later this year. Expanded presence in Huntsville, Ala. Thanks to a recently signed Space Act Agreement with NASA, Sierra Space will expand its collaborative environment with Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), in Huntsville, Ala., to continue critical work on LIFE. The agreement supports ongoing design and development of LIFE test articles; a full-scale engineering mockup – the size of a three-story apartment building – will move to MSFC from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Alabama is the seventh location across the nation where Sierra Space operates facilities, joining Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C. Sierra Space, NASA and ILC Dover subject matter experts performed the recent ASC test inside a specially built, climate-controlled building at MSFC, adjacent to the flame trench of the Saturn 1/1B test stand — where NASA tested rockets for the Apollo program. This location is optimum for softgoods inflatable destructive testing in both performance and observation. ILC Dover is Sierra Space’s softgoods provider. “NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center has a rich history in leading highly-complex testing for innovative systems and technologies,” said Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice. “Under this new Space Act Agreement, we’re expanding our collaboration activities with Marshall, where we will be able to tap into that wealth of expertise, talent and facility capabilities at a much deeper level.” Sierra Space’s LIFE is a key component of the company’s in-space destinations technology portfolio. The inflatable module is a three-story commercial habitation, science and bio pharma platform designed to allow humans to live and work comfortably in low-Earth orbit and beyond. LIFE will serve as both the habitation and payload element for the Orbital Reef commercial space station, a collaboration between Sierra Space and Blue Origin. About Sierra Space Sierra Space is a leading, pureplay commercial space company at the forefront of innovation and the commercialization of space in the Orbital Age™, building an end-to-end business and technology platform in space to benefit life on Earth. With more than 30 years and 500 missions of space flight heritage, the company is enabling the future of space transportation with Dream Chaser®, the world’s only commercial spaceplane, and is bringing LIFE™ to low-Earth orbit with its modular, three-story commercial habitation and science platform. Both Dream Chaser and LIFE are central components to Orbital Reef, a mixed-use business park in LEO being developed by principal partners Sierra Space and Blue Origin, which is expected to be operational by the end of the decade. Sierra Space also builds and delivers a host of systems and subsystems across solar power, mechanics and motion control, environmental control, life support, propulsion and thermal control, offering myriad space-as-a-service solutions for the new space economy.

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CDB Aviation Delivers First of Two A321NX Aircraft to Volaris

Businesswire | May 05, 2023

CDB Aviation, a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (“CDB Leasing”), announced today the delivery of the first of two A321neo aircraft fitted with Airbus’ Cabin Flex (“A321NX”) to its long-standing customer, Volaris (Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V.). The delivery is part of the lease agreements signed with the airline in 2021, which forms part of the 13 total number of CDB Aviation aircraft on lease to Volaris. The carrier is expected to take delivery of the second A321NX by the end of 2023, with an additional three A321neos and two A320neos slated for delivery throughout 2023 and 2024. “We’re thrilled to be celebrating with the Volaris team this inaugural delivery of a GTF-powered A321NX from our orderbook,” said Luís da Silva, CDB Aviation’s Head of Commercial, Americas. “With the latest technologies that improve efficiency and sustainability, this aircraft is ideally suited to expand the reach of Volaris’ market-dominant domestic brand to markets in North and Latin America.” “We appreciate the ongoing partnership with our colleagues at CDB Aviation in meeting the needs of our fleet renewal strategy that will ensure our airline’s sustainable growth in the long term,” commented Holger Blankenstein, Volaris’ Executive Vice President. “With one of the youngest, most fuel-efficient fleets in the Americas, our team remains committed to bringing the region’s passengers the best flying experience and the most modern technology aircraft.” Jie Chen, CDB Aviation Chief Executive Officer, concluded: “Our commercial team’s goal is to be a partner that our customers can trust and rely on to execute. We’re very pleased to continue deepening our relationship with Mexico’s largest domestic carrier as they are positioning their leading brand to benefit from a rapid resurgence of post-pandemic air travel in North and Latin America.” About CDB Aviation CDB Aviation is a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (“CDB Leasing”) a 38-year-old Chinese leasing company that is backed mainly by the China Development Bank. CDB Aviation is rated Investment Grade by Moody’s (A2), S&P Global (A), and Fitch (A+). China Development Bank is under the direct jurisdiction of the State Council of China and is the world’s largest development finance institution. It is also the largest Chinese bank for foreign investment and financing cooperation, long-term lending and bond issuance, enjoying Chinese sovereign credit rating. About Volaris Volaris or the “Company”, is an ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC), with point-to-point operations, serving Mexico, the United States, Central and South America. Volaris offers low base fares to build its market, providing quality service and extensive customer choice. Since beginning operations in March 2006, Volaris has increased its routes from five to 202 and its fleet from four to 120 aircraft. Volaris offers more than 550 daily flight segments on routes that connect 43 cities in Mexico and 28 cities in the United States with one of the youngest fleets in The Americas. Volaris targets passengers who are visiting friends and relatives and cost-conscious business and leisure travelers in Mexico and in selected destinations in the United States, Central and South America.

Read More

AIR TRANSPORT

Skyryse Expands To New Headquarters Amid Significant Growth Targeting Massive Revolution In General Aviation

PRnewswire | March 28, 2023

Skyryse, bringing trust, safety, and the accessibility of flight through a highly-automated and touchscreen flight control system, opened the doors to its new El Segundo headquarters this week. As the company continues to hire aviation and aerospace talent and charges toward certification, it has outgrown its 9,000 sq. ft. office space and opens its doors to a new state-of-the-art workspace in El Segundo, widely recognized as the aerospace capital of the world. After quickly building a top-notch aviation engineering team and implementing a highly experienced leadership organization, Skyryse grew from 30 employees at the beginning of 2022 and closed the year with 90 employees. As the company continues to scale development and secures a supplemental type certificate for its one-of-a-kind airframe-agnostic flight deck, the company has opened a second state-of-the-art development facility near its headquarters in El Segundo. "We are growing at a rapid clip and continue to look for top engineering talent to join our mission of reducing general aviation accidents, making flight simpler and safer, and revolutionizing the future of transportation," said Dr. Mark Groden, Founder and CEO of Skyryse. "We've put a lot of thought into creating an environment that communicates our vision of bringing the freedom and joy of safer flight right in the middle of one of the largest aerospace hubs in the U.S." In October of 2021, Skyryse closed a $205M Series B funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research Company and Monashee Investment Management, the largest Series B fundraise in aerospace history. About Skyryse Los Angeles-based Skyryse is bringing trust, safety, and the accessibility of flight for all through FlightOS, its easy and intuitive integrated flight control system. FlightOS removes many complexities of managing an aircraft during standard flight operations, inclement weather, and emergencies. Skyryse has raised more than $260 million from leading investors, including Fidelity Management & Research Company, Monashee Investment Management, ArrowMark Partners, Venrock, Eclipse Ventures, Cantos, Stanford University, and Bill Ford, Executive Chair, Ford Motor Company.

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