Inmarsat joins Project HEART for zero carbon air network

Inmarsat is taking part in Project HEART, a government-funded initiative to develop Britain’s first automated, zero carbon regional air transportation network. 

Project HEART (Hydrogen Electric and Automated Regional Transportation) aims to develop hydrogen powered, automated and remote piloting solutions for small aircraft carrying 9-to-19 passengers that take ‘short hop’ journeys of under 500 nautical miles.

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According to Inmarsat, ‘short hop’ air travel is economically unsustainable and reliant on government subsidies to cover high maintenance and running costs. Project HEART aims to offer an affordable alternative that addresses these deficiencies with next-generation technology and a ‘system-of-systems’ approach, bringing together a network of experts to re-develop the entire aviation network.

As part of this approach, Inmarsat will provide a hybrid connectivity solution that combines its satellite communications with terrestrial networks, enabling remote ‘digital’ co-piloting and critical communication in the cockpit. This allows the human pilot and the digital co-pilot functions, designed by Blue Bear Systems Research, to work together and for operations to be managed remotely. The technology will be evaluated on Britten-Norman aircraft.