ACTIVITY REPORTAERONAUTICS
2022 : Light Aviation will decarbonize the skies, taking us into a new era today.
In 2022, the MAELE initiative helped drive major advances in decarbonizing light aviation in France. With the participation of over 350 companies, MAELE enabled to finance 16 innovative projects for a total of 17 million euros. Progress in decarbonization technologies is well underway with operational hybrid propulsion test facilities as well as planes clocking up hundreds of flight hours. Many purchase letters of intent have been signed and are thus helping to prepare for a market transformation with new much anticipated uses. Plane manufacturers have teamed up within the framework of the CORAC CS23 roadmap to tackle the technological and certification challenges which will pave the way for tomorrow’s aviation industry as a whole.
In 2022, the project was at phase 3, with a total of 30 million euros in projects proposed and 16 projects funded for a total of 17 million euros. MAELE is also a powerful scheme to connect national expertise and foster networking thereby strengthening the entire national aeronautics industrial value chain. The technological building blocks tackled are hybrid electric/thermal test facilities, hydrogen propulsion, electric motors, composite material modelling, high and low voltage electrical distribution, hybridization energy management, and hydrogen tanks.
The CORAC CS-23 roadmap is ushering in the advent of an era of critical changes for light aviation in France, with several major revolutions set to take place: the energy revolution, which involves adopting an efficient propulsion system; the operations revolution, which requires increased automation of trajectory management and energy to improve safety and facilitate piloting. Finally, the competitiveness revolution, which requires seamless coordination between all aeronautics industry players to converge towards high performance business models and optimal industrial maturity.
Aerospace is co-leader of the CS23 roadmap with Daher and takes part in weekly work meetings with the leading players in this market.
The Aerospace Valley territory is the cradle of France’s carbon-free light aviation renewal.
These ambitious revolutions testify to France’s commitment to decarbonizing the light aviation sector with the ultimate goal of achieving zero-emissions by 2050.
Aerospace Valley’s participation in the CORAC SME initiative has enabled us to identify some twelve dynamic companies in the aeronautics ecosystem of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie and to choose three for innovation support.
SELECTED WEBINARS AND EVENTS
Sustainable, Green, Light Air Mobility Days, supported by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie regions, were a big success in Bordeaux (October 4th, 2022) and in Toulouse (November 29th and 30th, 2022). The Toulouse event took place at the same time as Aeromart, creating a collaboration between players in the aeronautics industry and sustainable air mobility. The event gathered 450 participants and 250 companies and featured conferences by leading experts in their fields and in-depth round tables on technological roadmaps, batteries, hydrogen, and the transformation of airports. The static exhibition also showcased the current achievements in decarbonized aviation. The event fostered the creation of new cooperative projects and enabled meetings between regional players and investors in the sustainable aviation sector.
The Auch-Gers Airport and Aerospace Valley jointly organized on September 16th, 2022 a meeting on the mobility of the future and the transformation of the Auch-Gers Airport as a proof of concept of an energy hub with densification of uses in the territory. This fostered synergy between some forty local players and aeronautics industry representatives. This collaboration produced a transformation strategy as well as a roadmap and a short, middle and long term action plan. The next phase is underway with a workshop planned for the fourth quarter 2023, which, inspired by this experience, will be improved and expanded to include other Aerospace Valley member airports and airfields.
Aerospace Valley participated for the first time in the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) event, AirVenture in OSHKOSH, giving international visibility to the companies Air Systems, Copelectronic, and Blue Spirit Aero. This event attracted 650 000 participants from 92 countries, with over 1400 forum sessions, workshops and presentations along with an exhibition of 3226 aircraft. Air Systems and Copelectronic consolidated their position as suppliers to Elixir and Daher. OSHKOSH, which the leading light aviation show, enabled our manufacturers to gain international recognition.
EUROPE FOCUS
The European ECARE project, funded by the Clean Aviation program and started in January 2023 will end in December, 2024. Aerospace Valley is coordinating this project which brings together three of its European partners: Hamburg Aviation (DE), DAC Campania (IT) and EASN (BE). ECARE aims to identify the existing landscape of aviation decarbonization technological roadmaps at the regional, national and European level. It will offer funding synergy schemes to enable the European aeronautics industry to reach Clean Aviation program objectives while maximizing the impact and efficiency of public funding.
The Zero Emission Aviation Alliance (AZEA) is an initiative of the European aeronautics industry which has committed to supplying environmentally respectful aircraft. Its aim is to achieve ambitious environmental objectives including carbon neutrality by 2050 for all flights from and to the EU. AZEA was created to prepare the aviation ecosystem for the entry into service of electric and hydrogen planes. The goal is to develop innovative technologies for airplanes, infrastructures, and air traffic management systems to enable a fast transition to more sustainable aviation.
The alliance brings together European aeronautics industry players including AIRBUS and AURA AERO on the steering committee, as well as key partners such as energy suppliers, regulatory authorities and universities. The alliance aims to accelerate the entry into service of electric and hydrogen planes.
In 2022, Aerospace Valley joined the Zero Emission Aviation Alliance (AZEA) (in three key working groups, in a clear demonstration of the commitment of the regions to supporting the transition of the European aeronautics industry to cleaner, more sustainable technologies.
Blue Spirit Aero is happy to include Aerospace Valley in its community. Through its energy and availability, Aerospace Valley enabled BSA to take part in many events this year such as OSHKOSH in the United States, MAELE days and the AEROMART show in France as well as to answer calls for projects important for the company’s technical development. We would like to warmly thanks the Aerospace Valley team for its presence, its support, and its engagement.
Olivier Savin CEO of Blue Spirit Aero
PROJECTS AND ACTIONS UNDERWAY SINCE MARCH 2023 AND TO COME:
Aerospace Valley will continue to support green aviation regional champions in developing and finalizing their flight test campaigns and preparing their industrialization. To do this, on-going support of the entire supplier ecosystem will be provided to enable to them to continue to expand. In addition, Aerospace Valley will continue to facilitate access to regional, national and European funding schemes to support promising initiatives and promote sustainable aviation.
In parallel, Aerospace Valley also proposes to help define airport transformation strategies, integrating new energies and analyzing the impact on the evolution of infrastructures. This process designed to support the transformation of airport infrastructures into energy hubs for cities, enabling to operate the future carbon-free aircraft, will make it possible to better prepare for the future of green aviation and guarantee a transition to more sustainable solutions.
Aerospace Valley will organize Green Aero Days (formerly called Sustainable, Green, Light Aviation Days), an international event dedicated to sustainable aviation. Green Aero Days will take place in Pau on December 6th and 7th, 2023. The event will be the opportunity to attend conferences, round tables and technical workshops on themes such as supplying airports & airfields with new energies (electric, SAF, hydrogen), recharging aeronautics batteries, the latest technological advances and certification of the carbon-free CS 23. In addition, a static exhibition will present the future decarbonized light aircraft, offering concrete insight into the progress achieved in the field of green aviation.
At the same time, Toulouse’s declaration regarding the goal of carbon neutral aviation by 2050 has confirmed the position of commercial aircraft manufacturers to prepare the launch of their new planes which will be eco-designed from the first stages of the lifecycle, equipped with new propulsion systems, reducing operational costs while reducing their environmental footprints. The ultimate goal is to lead the transformation of the aerospace sector while complying with international standards of environmental and social responsibility.