The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has published special conditions for ZeroAvia’s 600kW electric aircraft engine, demonstrating a step forward in the certification process for the company’s hydrogen-electric propulsion system.
The special conditions, published as a final rule in the Federal Register, set out additional safety standards required for electric engines, reflecting their novel design and ensuring an equivalent level of safety to existing airworthiness requirements. The move follows earlier regulatory progress, including the issuance of G1 and P1 issue papers by the FAA and the award of design organization approval by the UK Civil Aviation Authority in October last year.
The framework supports ZeroAvia’s efforts to achieve type certification for its electric propulsion system (EPS), which combines a proprietary 600kW motor and inverter. The system is designed to form part of the company’s wider hydrogen-electric powertrain for 10-20 seat commercial aircraft under its ZA600 programme.
In the full configuration, the propulsion system will be powered by multiple SuperStack Flex 200kW fuel cell modules, forming a complete hydrogen-electric powertrain. The company is also advancing certification of the fuel cell power generation system, which it said could be deployed as a standalone product for applications including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and general aviation.
ZeroAvia has developed in-house testing capabilities to support certification, including a 700kW dynamometer electric engine test rig, dedicated hydrogen fuel cell and thermal management testing environments, and hydrogen management systems.
Val Miftakhov, founder and chief executive of ZeroAvia, said: “Having special conditions for our electric propulsion system published by the FAA is an enormous achievement… and illuminates our path forwards towards type certification.”
The company said the milestone strengthens its regulatory readiness as it continues development of hydrogen-electric propulsion systems.