Today’s challenges for aerospace and defence companies are familiar, but maybe more demanding than ever. We see environmental issues escalating, customer demands growing, new approaches to travel on Earth and in space continuing to develop. All these make for a rapidly changing market.
So, how can the aerospace industry accelerate progress towards low-carbon future and a new era of mobility against this changing backdrop?
Well, as an example, we can look at Airbus who announced at the end of 2022 that they are developing a hydrogen-powered fuel cell engine. This will be one of the potential solutions to power its zero-emission aircraft by 2035 and the plan is to have the technology demonstrated by the middle of this decade.
“Fuel cells are a potential solution to help us achieve our zero-emission ambition and we are focused on developing and testing this technology to understand if it is feasible and viable for a 2035 entry-into-service of a zero-emission aircraft,” commented Glenn Llewellyn, VP Zero-Emission Aircraft, Airbus.
We know the technology is almost ready, but refinements and testing will be crucial to make it viable for service in such a short amount of time.
Aviation has always been about pushing the envelope—experimenting, trying, and then building better. The enormous range of technologies from Hexagon have been trusted by aerospace companies for decades, empowering them to innovate and optimise, from before a concept is prototyped all the way through production, operation and MRO (maintenance, repair, overhaul).
Linking the real and the digital worlds, companies can transform the process of making. Conceptualising, designing, engineering, validation, manufacturing, quality control and management, delivery, service become a unified thread strengthened by real-time data from every process point. This can be captured using Hexagon autonomous metrology solutions, providing actionable insights now and to build with for the future. Discover how agile, connected systems can help us build aircraft fit for a de-carbonised future in my blog Towards new horizons for Aerospace.
A trusted aerospace technology partner
Tools and solutions from Hexagon touch the development and production of 90% of all aircraft produced today. The simulation and metrology portfolio spans every stage of design and manufacturing. Tailored into unique, configurable, and scalable toolkits, these capabilities from Hexagon offer companies what they need to begin building or finalising their digital ecosystem.
By bringing precision data together in both the real and virtual worlds, we help you confidently deliver ‘right first time’ today, and unlock tomorrow’s game-changing, sustainable innovations.
Our unique, state-of-the-art digital continuity means you can break down organisational silos to co-develop quality products right first time – cutting waste, driving efficiency and minimising time-to-market. In addition, we empower teams to maintain regulatory standards and safety, while staying agile to cope with economic uncertainty.
Be the future
Manufacturing transformation is at the heart of Hexagon’s DNA. Our experience and capabilities have set benchmarks for manufacturing productivity and quality. And now our virtuous circle of end-to-end precision data connects production with design to bring valuable real-world data into upstream decisions. This empowers aerospace makers to gain insights that bring new products to market faster, optimising workflows and unlocking tomorrow’s automated production capabilities, too.
We’re committed to working in partnership with the aerospace industry to bring innovative ideas to life; working towards zero waste, zero product failures and Net Zero alike. Interested in finding out more? Check out our new web page and discover how you can be the future of aerospace with Hexagon: https://hexagon.com/go/mi/be-the-future-of-aerospace
