Successful entry: ZenithCraft – TU Darmstadt
Successful entry: ZenithCraft – TU Darmstadt
ZenithCraft is a single-pilot CS-23 flight demonstrator, developed to bridge the 'valley of death' between laboratory-validated and flight-tested hybrid-electric hydrogen propulsion systems. Two interchangeable propulsion architectures are integrated into the fuselage: a low-temperature PEM (LT-PEM) fuel cell and a twin turbo-generator with DEP. The central research aim is to determine whether differential thrust across the span of a DEP system can replace conventional rudder authority, thereby enabling a reduction in vertical stabiliser area through a telescopic, smaller vertical stabiliser. These coupling effects between propulsion, control and structure cannot be fully captured either in the laboratory or on the ground, which is why flight testing is a necessary and decisive step for technology validation. By answering this question experimentally, ZenithCraft provides direct, flight-based insights for the design of tail units and wingtip propulsion on future hybrid-electric hydrogen aircraft, thereby supporting the intended technology maturation pathway.
Credit:
TU Darmstadt/ZenithCraft