eSTOL: Electric Short Take Off Or Landing (Red.)
Lockheed Martin Invests In eSTOL Company
Electra.aero
By Calvin Biesecker |
January 18, 2022
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Electra.aero, hybrid-electric ultra-short takeoff and landing (eSTOL), Lockheed Martin Ventures, Series A funding
Lockheed
Martin Ventures is investing in Electra’s Series A funding round to support
flight testing Electra’s hybrid-electric eSTOL aircraft full-scale technology
demonstrator in 2022. Pictured here is a computer-generated image of what
Electra.aero's eSTOL could look like in the future. (Electra.aero)
Electra.aero, a relatively new company pursuing
new aircraft solutions for the urban and regional air mobility markets, on
Tuesday said that it has received a lead investment from Lockheed Martin for a
funding round that will help it get to its first flight of a technology
demonstrator later this year.
The amount of the investment wasn’t disclosed,
and Electra is still lining up additional investors for its Series A funding round.
In addition to the investment by Lockheed Martin
Ventures, the aerospace and defense giant’s venture capital unit, Lockheed
Martin also signed a strategic cooperation agreement where it will work with
Electra on potential solutions for the U.S. government.
Electra, which was founded in 2020 and is based in
Northern Virginia, is developing a full-scale hybrid-electric ultra-short
takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft that can transport up to 1,800-pounds of
cargo or seven to nine passengers up to 500 miles. The demonstrator aircraft
will not be a full-scale model but a two-person plane to test key technologies,
Robie Samanta Roy, Electra’s chief operating officer, said in an emailed
statement.
Last year, Electra received a contract from
the Air Force’s Agility Prime initiative, which is investing in, and leveraging, companies
in the commercial electric vertical takeoff and landing for its potential
future aviation needs.
“Hybrid-electric propulsion will influence every
aspect of aviation,” John Langford, founder and CEO of Electra, said in a
statement.
Roy said that Lockheed Martin is also essentially
seeding technology “incubation,” with its investment in Electra. They are
“clearly thinking about the future of air mobility” in an era of “contested
logistics” that would complement the company’s existing air mobility portfolio
and examine key technologies that could eventually be “brought to scale,” he
said.
“Electra’s technical approach to sustainable
aviation is differentiated, and we are excited to see this concept mature,”
Chris Moran, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures,
said in a statement. “We invested in Electra because of its focus on
hybrid-electric technology. Hybrid-electric aircraft have the potential to
deliver operational and environmental advantages over other aircraft, including
increased payload and range without gambling on battery improvements. We look
forward to working with the Electra team and hope to partner on opportunities
in the future.”
Electra is integrating two fundamental
technologies for its eSTOL aircraft, a hybrid-electric propulsion system and a
blown lift wing. The company’s website shows eight motors, four on each side of
the fuselage attached to the leading edge of the wing, to create distributed
electric propulsion that is more cost-effective flexible for a blown lift wing
than jet engines used in government-developed technology demonstrator decades
ago.
Electra says its aircraft will be able to operate
from small spaces, 300 by 100-feet, and operate in urban areas and remote
landing strips, including from building tops.
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