News & Tech

A Boeing hydrogen-powered plane is now undergoing testing. Boeing's experimental aircraft is powered by hydrogen fuel cells is off the ground and Boeing said this week it had successful tested the hydrogen propulsion of its new unmanned ISR plane.

Boeing Tests Hydrogen-Powered Plane

The breakthrough is "full of promises for a greener future," Boeing Chief Technology Officer John Tracy told reporters at the company's research center in Ocana, Spain, where the aircraft was on display, according to a report from the Associated Press.


The development was "a historical technological success for Boeing (and) ... full of promises for a greener future," Tracy told the news conference. Boeing said in a statement that, "Using a Ford Motor Company-developed hydrogen engine," it had "successfully tested the hydrogen propulsion system of its High Altitude Long Endurance -- HALE -- unmanned aircraft."

A video is here. Boeing said the HALE was "designed to stay aloft for more than seven days and carry payloads weighing up to 2,000 pounds. Potential applications include battlefield persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, border observation, port security and telecommunications. The long endurance autonomous aircraft will be a propeller-driven, lightweight structure with a high-aspect-ratio-wing."