Industrial Automation Magazine India

Supernal Debuts S A2 eVTOL product concept to aviation market at 2024 Farnborough International Airshow

Published on : Wednesday 24-07-2024

Company to display full-scale S-A2 and convene key stakeholders to advance the AAM ecosystem.

Farnborough, UK, July 22, 2024 – Supernal LLC – Hyundai Motor Group's Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) company – has announced its return to the biennial Farnborough International Airshow, where it will display its full-scale electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle product concept, S-A2, and share its progress toward launching commercial flights in 2028. The event marks the introduction of S-A2 to the aviation community and is the latest milestone in Supernal's journey toward realising safe and efficient everyday passenger air travel.

Following its official debut in January, S-A2 will be on display to the public in Supernal's airshow chalet (A025). The aircraft is uniquely designed to get people in urban areas to their destinations faster and leverages expertise from Supernal's aerospace engineering teams in collaboration with Hyundai Motor Group's automotive designers and manufacturing teams. S-A2 will cruise at 120 mph and have an initial range of 60 miles to meet typical city operation needs. The aircraft utilises distributed electric propulsion architecture and will operate quietly to meet community noise standards. Most importantly, S-A2 is engineered to achieve global commercial aviation safety standards with a robust airframe structure that includes redundant components in critical systems such as powertrain, flight controls and avionics.

"We are eager to share Supernal's latest product milestone – our eVTOL product concept – with the aviation industry as we work to launch commercial Advanced Air Mobility operations in 2028," said Jaiwon Shin, president of Hyundai Motor Group and CEO of Supernal. "With our 'right product, right market at the right time' philosophy, S-A2 embodies critical work Supernal is conducting with fleet operators, suppliers, governments and Hyundai Motor Group to ensure AAM becomes a safe, economically viable and widespread mode of transportation in the coming decades."

Supernal will initiate prototype testing of S-A2 in 2025; prior to then, the company will begin flying its full-scale technology demonstrator (FSTD). The FSTD test program will inform Supernal's prototype vehicle by helping to mature and validate vehicle systems, build flight testing capabilities and form strong supply chains. The company today announced GKN successfully delivered the full composite wing assembly for the FSTD and will deliver the booms by the end of the month.

"2024 is a pivotal year for Supernal's eVTOL development, marking the transition from engineering design to the build and execution phases," said David McBride, chief technology officer, Supernal. "In addition to gaining instrumental learnings from our full-scale technology demonstrator, we will also begin prototype development and continue refining our production vehicle for scaled manufacturing in the coming months."

In pursuit of integrating AAM into existing transit options, Supernal continues to convene crucial stakeholders to responsibly co-create the industry's ecosystem. At the airshow, Supernal will host an industry panel in collaboration with the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, July 24, at 10:00 a.m. Shin and leaders from Honeywell and Kearney will share perspectives on solving AAM challenges to adoption, such as regulatory gaps, the need for new infrastructure and gaining public acceptance. In addition, Supernal will advance and announce efforts related to AAM market development at the airshow.

"We know an eVTOL vehicle is just one piece of the AAM puzzle," said Shin. "Building the entire ground-to-air ecosystem requires thoughtful collaboration among leaders across all aspects of the industry. The Farnborough International Airshow provides the right platform to do just that." 

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