Hanwha Systems is working on hydrogen-powered urban air mobility (UAM) and hopes to have it on the market in 2035.
It can be used for long-distance transportation if it can fly for more than two hours. Hanwha Systems plans to start making hydrogen electric UAM gas for commercial use by 2035, based on the hydrogen fuel cell for UAM that Hanwha Aerospace has made.
Hanwha Systems is working with US Over Air to make a UAM plane called “Butterfly.” First, it wants to make a battery-electric UAM and get a type certification (TC) from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) by 2025. Then, it wants to test the UAM in Korea in the same year. The service will start in 2026, and it will be expanded to countries all over the world in 2030, when the service area will be expanded.
The powertrain (PT) of the UAM plane is also different. It was planned that the electric UAM would be sold by 2030, and the UAM based on the “gas turbine + battery” hybrid system would be sold by 2035, after that. This is how to add the right gas to the operation section.
Hanwha Systems wants to use hydrogen-powered UAMs to move people between cities that have long flight distances. If you want to go from Seoul to Busan in South Korea by electric UAM in less than an hour, you can’t because it takes an hour. People think cargo UAMs that use a lot of energy will use the hydrogen fuel cell system.
Hanwha Aerospace came up with the gas turbine + battery hybrid system and hydrogen fuel cell system in the past. Hanwha Aerospace is the only company in Korea that makes airplane gas turbine engines. In a national project, the hydrogen fuel cell system for UAM has been made. It will be done by 2025. It is important to make sure that the performance is going to work out.
Separately, Hanwha Systems will get technology that can be used by other powertrain planes through the first electric UAM. 320 km/h is the goal, and when flying at an altitude of 300 to 600 m, the noise felt from the ground is 15 dB lower than when a helicopter is flying to get to 65 dB.
Despite the fact that only a few companies have used hydrogen technology to make UAM, it is expected to keep growing. This is because it has a faster fuel charging speed than batteries, and it has an effect on flight time because it has a lot of energy in a small space.
Supernull, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motors UAM, also plans to put electric UAM on the market in 2028. Then, Hyundai Motors will use a hydrogen fuel cell system that was developed separately to put UAM on the market.
There is also a company that specializes in making hydrogen fuel cells for airplanes. US company Highpoint makes a 50kW drone. Turbo air-cooled hydrogen fuel cell system that can be used in 10MW class planes is being worked on by it. Among its clients are Urban Aeronautics, an Israeli company that makes UAMs, Piaseki Aircraft, a U.S. helicopter company, and Zero Avia, a company that makes hydrogen aircraft in the United States.
