Sirius Aviation has a serious business Jet
and it's also an eVTOL, but it's not ready yet
Sirius Aviation, a Swiss startup, has decided to throw its hat into the eVTOL ring with what they claim to be the world's first hydrogen-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
This jet, which bears a striking resemblance to Lilium’s Jet, is set to outdo its rivals with a staggering travel range of 1,851 km at speeds up to 520 km/h. Four times further than Lilium, which is probably sulking in a corner right now.
Now, the secret sauce to Sirius’ ambitious flight plan is Liquid hydrogen propulsion. Yes, the holy grail of fuels, because apparently, regular hydrogen just doesn't cut it anymore. This magic potion allows vehicles to travel much further without packing on the pounds.
The Sirius Business Jet, as it's called, can transport a whopping three people. What? Three whole people? Because when you've got groundbreaking technology, you want to use it to carry as few passengers as possible, right? I guess these flights won’t be cheap.
The Sirius team, a small army of over 100 engineers, has been toiling away for two years in what they call “intense R&D” to develop this jet. They've even started chatting with the FAA about getting this sleek beast certified.
There are two models in the works: the three-seater business jet and a five-seater commercial aircraft. Because when you're revolutionizing aviation, you want to start with numbers that wouldn't even fill a minivan.
They're planning to have these flying marvels ready for demonstration flights next year, with full certification, commercial deliveries, and shuttle flights all lined up by 2028. Ambitious? Absolutely. Overly optimistic? Perhaps.
There are a few small challenges. Using liquid hydrogen is like playing on hard mode. It needs to be colder than a penguin's picnic, at below -253 °C. It's a logistical nightmare for production, storage, and delivery.
Then there's the small matter of the aviation certification process, which is notoriously slow and expensive. Sirius might need to find a money tree or a very generous fairy godmother to fund this venture.
As for who's footing the bill? That's still up in the air. BMW lent a hand in designing the jet, but it's unclear if they'll dive deeper into their pockets.
Sirius plans to DIY the whole liquid hydrogen powertrain. Considering no one has even managed to get a gaseous hydrogen plane off the ground in commercial terms, let’s not get our hopes up. It’s a nice dream, though.
Linkie here: https://siriusjet.com/