After launching the development of its 600 kW powertrain for use in 19-seat aircraft late last year, ZeroAvia has achieved its first major milestone for the HyFlyer II program.The ground test involved ZeroAvia’s flight-intent 600kW powertrain pulling the company's new 15t HyperTruck mobile ground testing platform across the tarmac.

The HyperTruck, developed based on heavy-duty military trucks, is sized for the company’s ZA-2000 2MW+ powertrain, which can be used to test systems for 40-80 seat hydrogen-electric powered aircraft. The ground tests of the 600kW propulsion system support the on-track development of the company’s HyFlyer II program, which will deliver a hydrogen-electric, zero-emission propulsion system for airframes 10-20 seats in size.

This is ZeroAvia’s first high-power run of the ZA-600, kicking off its test program for the flight-intent hardware to prepare the system for flight. The first milestone test-flights of HyFlyer II’s Dornier 228 aircraft testbed are expected to take place later this year from ZeroAvia’s UK facility in Kemble.

In June 2021, the company announced the procurement of two Dornier 228 aircraft for the next phase of its 19-seat program, building off the success of the 250 kW powerplant in a 6-seat aircraft across three flight test campaigns. And in March 2021, ZeroAvia launched the development program for a 2 MW hydrogen-electric powertrain for full-size regional aircraft. ZeroAvia completed its first commercial-scale hydrogen-electric-powered flight in September 2020.