H2 Clipper’s plans to bring a hydrogen-powered airship to market received a boost this week when Dassault Systèmes selected the California-based start-up to join its 3DEXPERIENCE Lab accelerator program. The company’s planned design is intended to transport freight, including possibly hydrogen supplies for other users, in a way that it says will be between seven and 10 times faster than shipment via ship or truck and with 70 percent savings compared with the cost of using existing cargo aircraft.
The proposed H2 Clipper airship is expected to have a range of 6,000 miles at speeds of 175 mph and a vast cargo volume of 265,000 cubic feet. According to the company, its operating costs will be between 17 and 25 cents per ton-mile, based on payloads of 245 tons over 1,000 miles or 170 tons over 6,000 miles. Total lifting capacity is expected to be over 250 tons, with the range to payload ratio being driven by the quantity of fuel required for the desired flight distance.
The H2 Clipper team says that it expects to complete a detailed design and have a 40 percent sub-scale prototype ready to start flight testing in 2024, subject to sufficient funds being raised to support this work. Its objective is to have the first full-sized model flying in 2027, but it has not yet indicated when it aims to have the as-yet-unnamed airship certified for commercial service.
One benefit of joining Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE Lab is the opportunity to use its CATIA design software, as well as the SOLIDWORKS platform for design and system engineering and the DELMIA and SIMULIA systems for manufacturing and simulation. The company, which is part of the French aerospace group that makes the Dassault Falcon family of business jets and also fighter aircraft like the Rafale, has not said whether it is making a direct investment in H2 Clipper, which earned its first patent for the technology behind the airship in 2012. More than 100 engineers will now be recruited to the start-up to make the most of its participation in the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab.
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