Platform System Design

Platform Technology

15 June 2020

Antenna integration in a carbon fibre fuselage panel (ACASIAS)

For internet access and live television on board aircraft steerables are needed to enable communication with satellites. Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) and partners in the EC Horizon2020 ACASIAS project have developed a novel composite fuselage panel that can be used for the conformal and full integration of electronically steerable phased array antennas. The fuselage […]
NLR hydrogen drone HYDRA on the runway of the Dronecentre
Sustainability and Environment

08 June 2020

Flying on hydrogen, first drone test flight on batteries (HYDRA II)

Less emission, longer endurance or heavier payloads. That’s why NLR invests in the development of hydrogen powered drones. HYDRA II is a VTOL drone with the goal of flying on hydrogen for 2 hours. At this moment we perform the first flight tests on batteries at NLR Drone Centre. Later this year this aircraft will […]
Dutch Drone Delta
Air Traffic Management

04 December 2019

Facilitating MALE RPAS integration in non-segregated European airspace

NLR is performing a multi-year study in partnership with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems UK (GA-UK), to develop the procedures needed to safely and efficiently integrate Medium Altitude, Long Endurance (MALE) Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) into European Airspace and to ultimately develop a data-driven Concept of Operation (CONOP) […]
Sustainability and Environment

20 November 2019

Flying on hydrogen, towards zero-emission flight

First flight of Royal NLR’s hydrogen drone: HYDRA. Less emission, longer endurance or heavier payloads. That’s why NLR invests in the development of hydrogen powered drones. One of the main challenges of this activity is to adhere to our safety requirements. To this end NLR drafted an Explosion Safety Report, covering extensive safety analyses. This […]
First flight NLR hydrogen drone at NLR Drone Centre Marknesse
Sustainability and Environment

20 September 2019

Hydrogen-powered drone above The Netherlands

It has not previously been done in Dutch airspace: NLR is flying a hydrogen-powered drone (HYDRA). This is a step towards sustainable aviation. Additionally, market parties will be able to follow these footsteps quickly and fly hydrogen-powered drones safely in the Netherlands. At the testing centre in Marknesse, the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) has […]
Safety and Human performance

15 March 2015

FANTASSY - Next Generation Green Aircraft

FANTASSY – Future Aircraft design following the carrier-pod concept as an eNabler for co-modal seamless Transport, pAssenger Safety and environmental SustainabilitY. FANTASSY is a project executed within the European 7th RTD Framework Programme (2012-2014). Background: One of the most challenging areas of aeronautical research is the air-vehicle itself, mainly in what concerns its form and […]