FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Hydroplane Wins Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Funding from the U.S. Navy for Hydrogen-Based Ground Power Unit Development for the U.S. Marine Corps
LOS ANGELES (September 212, 2024) – Hydroplane is delighted to be awarded U.S. Department of the Navy Phase 1 Option Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding to further develop its mobile hydrogen fuel cell ground power unit.
“We are honored to support the Navy and Marine Corps in the development of an emission free, lightweight ground power unit,” said Hydroplane CEO, Anita Sengupta PhD. “As a small business we have the agility and innovation mindset to rapidly bring cutting edge technology from research to product.”
The funding award is a continuation of the U.S. Navy SBIR Phase 1 contract Hydroplane received in January 2024, allowing the company to continue development on a prototype of the compact, lightweight hydrogen fuel cell-based ground power unit (GPU), for the U.S. Marine Corps, in a contested logistics environment. The new product can also be deployed at airports around the country and globe to replace diesel powered GPUs, furthering the company’s mission to reduce aviation sector carbon emissions end-to-end.
Hydroplane has previously received SBIR contract from , US Navy, and two U.S. Air Force (USAF) Agility Prime Small Business Technology Transfer contracts, received a California Energy Commission CalTestBed voucher to conduct testing and accelerate commercialization, and raised private funds to develop from the ground up and demonstrate a hydrogen fuel cell-based electric powerplant for single engine aircraft. Hydroplane is also a winner of the Army X-tech 8 challenge to develop a system for army rotorcraft electric propulsion
Concurrently, development is well underway on Hydroplane’s modular hydrogen fuel cell-based powerplant for the general aviation, regional transportation, and urban air mobility markets. The company’s novel electric propulsion powerplant will replace combustion-piston driven engines in currently certified, experimental, and future aircraft as well as ground-based power systems.
About Hydroplane
Founded by former NASA engineer Anita Sengupta PhD, Hydroplane Ltd. is minority woman-owned small business focused on eliminating aviation carbon emissions. Sengupta’s team of space program-trained engineers are developing a modular hydrogen fuel cell powerplant for a range of aircraft and mobile energy storage applications. Hydroplane is a winner of two U.S. Air Force Agility Prime contracts and a US Navy SBIR contract to develop the novel technology for a range of government and commercial aviation uses.
Contact:
Jen Boyer
Flying Penguin Communications
206-250-3209
jen@theflyingpenguinpr.com
media@hydroplane.us
https://hydroplane.us
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