Airbus, Toshiba building the hydrogen planes of the future

Airbus and Toshiba will cooperate to develop superconducting technologies for future hydrogen-powered aircraft, a potential revolutionary collaboration to curb carbon emissions and improve efficiency while switching to a sustainable long-term fuel source.

Airbus UpNext, a wholly-owned subsidiary of France’s Airbus, and Japan’s Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation, a division of the electronics conglomerate, will carry out the work as per a newly signed agreement.

Airbus UpNext’s says its mission is to identify, evaluate and develop potentially disruptive aerospace trends and concepts that could yield radical technological breakthroughs such as flying “at speeds well beyond what seems feasible today” or, in this case, a new and better approach to aerial propulsion.

Airbus UpNext says it aims “to further accelerate traditional research cycles, developing proof of concepts and completing both ground and flight testing with scale and speed.” Practically speaking, this likely means within two or three years.

Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation is one of Japan’s leading suppliers of power generation and transmission equipment, and energy management technology.

Director Tsutomu Takeuchi says the company brings “expertise in superconducting technology for high current flow, motor drive technology for precise current control, and advanced rotating machinery technology for stable, high-speed operation” to the partnership.

The two sides signed the agreement last month at the Japan International Aerospace Exhibition 2024, which hosted more than 660 companies and other organizations at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center from October 16-19.

Airbus senior vice president Grzegorz Ombach, who heads the aerospace