Airbus

Airbus is expanding the capabilities of its Flightlab helicopter designed to test out next-generation aviation technologies, by incorporating some advanced hardware geared toward autonomous flight, including LiDAR sensors from Luminar.

Airbus is working on a number of hydrogen-powered aircraft, and it's just found a new angle on cryogenic liquid H2 fuel: using it to supercool the powertrain down to superconducting temperatures, possibly unlocking huge weight and efficiency savings.

Europe is getting into the space manufacturing race as the European Commission awards Airbus a €3-million (US$3.5-million) contract to study the potential for assembling spacecraft in low-Earth orbit using robotic systems.

We're all hoping for electric VTOL aircraft, but France's Ascendance isn't willing to wait for batteries and hydrogen to break through. The company says its Atea hybrid will deliver long-range VTOL travel with just 20 percent of a helicopter's emissions.

Airbus Helicopter's Flightlab flying laboratory based on the H130 copter has taken to the air for the first to perform a series of platform-agnostic in-flight tests of new systems aimed at ushering in next-generation aircraft technologies.

With the move towards electric aviation comes new opportunities to explore what a powertrain looks like, and Airbus is experimenting with a new design that builds entire hydrogen propulsion units, tanks and all, into detachable pods along the wings.

ESA has awarded Airbus a €491 million contract to design and build the Earth Return Orbiter, which will return the first samples collected from the Red Planet by NASA's Perseverance rover to Earth.

Looking forward to a zero-emission future for the commercial aircraft industry, Airbus has revealed three hydrogen-fueled concepts, including a striking blended wing design, with the aim of putting the first flyer into service by 2035.

Autopilot has been around longer than you think – the first daredevil public demos happened back in 1914. But today's airliners still need pilots, and Airbus has only recently completed testing on the first autonomous taxi, takeoff and landing system.

Airbus Helicopters' VSR700 unmanned aerial system (UAS) prototype has flown autonomously for the first time. At a drone test center near Aix-en-Provence in the south of France, the pilotless rotorcraft performed a 10-minute free flight.

Airbus Helicopters' multi-role H160 helicopter has received type certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and it is now expected to gain US FAA certification before commercial deliveries begin later this year.

Helicopters regularly have to get their rotor blades inspected, so they can be replaced if they're wearing out. Using the BladeSense system, however, the aircraft would be able to monitor the condition of their blades in real time, while in flight.