Honeywell Aerospace and partners have completed the integration of the subsystems composing the hydrogen-electric propulsion system they are developing under European Union-backed Project Newborn. On September 17, the U.S.-based group reported that its engineering team in Brno, Czech Republic, has established a functional hydrogen power source capable of generating and supplying electricity for an aircraft.
Project Newborn is targeting development of a megawatt-class propulsion system for a future aircraft certified under EASA’s Part CS-23 rules. The program, funded by the EU Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking, aims to support flight tests with a demonstrator aircraft in 2028.
According to Honeywell, the hydrogen fuel cells are now fully integrated with other subsystems, and engineers have verified that the electrical power source functions correctly. The next stage of the project will involve a ground demonstration of the complete propulsion system in which the hydrogen power source and batteries will supply electricity to an electric motor driving an aircraft propeller.
The integrated power source system will be transferred to Gorizia in Italy for testing that will culminate in the full integration of other parts of the propulsion system that Honeywell is developing with Textron Aviation subsidiary Pipistrel and the UK’s University of Nottingham. The fuel cell power source will be connected to batteries provided by Pipistrel, which has already brought the Velis Electro two-seat electric training aircraft to market.
For hydrogen fuel cell testing, Honeywell built a platform that replicates a range of aircraft functions and is using it to expand the power range and evaluate the system’s stability and resilience. This installation, which includes an independent power source, fluid distribution, electrical and heat-rejection systems, and a control room, is operated at a site near Prague by program partner ÚJV Řež.
Project Newborn involves 18 companies and organizations that also include PowerCell, Fraunhofer, and Test-Fuchs for the development of the electrical power source and related equipment. Modeling, simulations, and integration studies have involved Siemens Industry Software, KU Leuven, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, and the Italian aerospace research agency CIRA.
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