Swinburne takes hydrogen to the skies

Melbourne’s Swinburne University of Technology has successfully completed the first flight of an Australian-developed hydrogen fuel cell electric powered VTOL drone.

The flight occurring last week in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley was the first of its type in Australia.

This flight was the first electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL), hydrogen-powered uncrewed aerial system (UAS) flight.

Built by the university’s Aerostructures Innovation Research Hub (AIR Hub), the flight test was achieved by the Small Hydrogen Aircraft Development & Evolution (SHADE) drone.

Director of the AIR Hub Dr Adriano Di Pietro said: “The successful hydrogen-powered flight of the SHADE drone represents a significant milestone in not only the H22S project, but also the development of net zero aerospace in Australia.”

The successful flight is the result of collaboration with industry, researchers and businesses across the aviation and hydrogen industries, and Swinburne’s Victorian Hydrogen Hub (VH2).

The SHADE drone was developed through AIR Hub’s Hydrogen to the Skies (H22S) project, funded by the Commonwealth Government’s Emerging Aviation Technology Partnerships programme.

The aim of this project is to design and integrate a new hydrogen propulsion system into a large-scale drone with a view to utilise hydrogen propulsion progressively from UAS all the way to passenger and freight air vehicles.

Hydrogen propulsion will allow longer range regional and remote-area flights than is achievable by battery-powered air vehicles, which are being developed for short-range urban operations.

“Swinburne’s AIR Hub is dedicated to cementing Australia as a key player in the global effort towards the decarbonisation of the aviation and aerospace industry, and we believe that utilising hydrogen power is key to this journey,” said Dr Di Pietro.

Picture: Swinburne University of Technology/The Hydrogen to the Skies team preparing the SHADE drone for its first hydrogen-propelled flight in the Latrobe Valley.