In Toulouse, Ascendance Flight Technologies unveiled Atea, its hybrid vertical take-off aircraft
In the race for flying taxis, Ascendance Flight Technologies has just taken a new step. After three years of research and development, the Toulouse start-up has indeed unveiled the design of its hybrid vertical take-off and landing aircraft. This five-seater aircraft, whose engine combines thermal and electrical energy, will soon exist in the form of a full-size prototype which will begin its first tests in 2023 at the Muret-Lherm aerodrome, near Toulouse. Ascendance Flight Technologies has in its sights an official presentation of its Atea, half-airplane, half-helicopter, for the 2024 Olympic Games and a launch the following year.
Things went very quickly for its four founders. All were part of the E-Fan adventure, the all-electric twin-engine aircraft developed by Airbus, until the end of the program in 2017, the aircraft manufacturer wishes to refocus its research on a hybrid model. “While working on the E-Fan, we realized the need to reduce the carbon footprint of aviation. We created Ascendance Flight Technologies in 2018 to continue in this process by taking the angle of the electric hybrid ”explains Jean-Christophe Lambert, president of Ascendance Flight Technologies.
“Electric batteries are too heavy to be the only source of energy,” he admits. The engine of our Atea aircraft is therefore also powered by a thermal source, currently kerosene, but it could evolve to accommodate new energy sources such as hydrogen or biofuels. Already, the reduction of the environmental impact is significant. “
According to the start-up, the propulsion system and aerodynamics of its aircraft can reduce CO2 emissions and noise by up to 80% compared to a helicopter. “The cost of operation, purchase and maintenance is halved and the range, of 400 km, allows us to target several markets. Our plane can be used to transport people in urban areas but also in peri-urban and regional areas to provide inter-island links, medical emergency missions or even surveillance, ”underlines Jean-Christophe Lambert.
First tests in 2023 in the Toulouse sky
This “near future” plane, on which a team of 35 people in Toulouse is currently working, has convinced several major investors. In the summer of 2021, Ascendance Flight Technologies raised € 10 million from Habert Dassault Finance and Kima, the seed fund created by Xavier Niel, in particular to finance its recruitments but also its small and small prototypes on patent filing. A new round of funding will take place in 2022 to scale up to full-scale and launch the first tests in early 2023 in the skies of Toulouse.