Helios Horizon becomes first crewed aircraft to fly on solid-state batteries
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By Omar Kardoudi
Kettled twice. Extra chewy, extra trustworthy.
Summary
The Helios Horizon, a crewed fixed-wing aircraft powered by solid-state batteries, completed its first test flights on June 5 in Florida. While the flights were short and focused on validating weight and balance, they mark a historic milestone in aviation. Solid-state batteries offer a 60% energy density improvement over conventional lithium-ion, potentially solving the key physics problem that has held back electric aviation and paving the way for commercial electric flight.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledThe flight was neither spectacular in distance nor in duration – it was a series of short tests to validate the aircraft's weight and balance after the new batteries had been installed – but it didn't need to be to make history.
Electric aviation has always been held back by the same physics problem.
Conventional lithium-ion batteries, the chemistry behind most electric cars, use a liqu
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