In line with the European Green Deal target of reaching carbon neutrality in the aviation industry by 2050, breakthrough technologies related to direct (100% hydrogen) combustion systems will be researched, prototyped and integrated onto a modern donor aeroengine for ground testing (starting in late 2024) in Project CAVENDISH. This aeroengine test on liquid hydrogen will be a first of a kind in Europe and the cornerstone to further in-flight demonstration, eventually leading to product development aimed at meeting Europe’s and the industry’s ambition for the entry in service (EIS) of commercial, mass-transport, hydrogen-fuelled aircraft in 2035.

CAVENDISH’s second objective will be to work on system and powerplant aircraft integration with several established airframers and a supplemental type certificate organisation to define certification pathways and formulate a route to permit to fly. This activity will directly benefit the flight test of the donor engine scheduled for the next phase of the Clean Aviation programme.

CAVENDISH will also explore alternative enabling technologies in the form of a dual fuel combustor system (capable of operating on 100% hydrogen and 100% SAF) and in the form of a cryo-compressed tank system. Both these technologies will offer flexibility and could ease the introduction of hydrogen in aviation.
CAVENDISH brings together expertise-leading European organizations in aeronautics, power and propulsion, combustion, fuel and controls systems and aircraft. It builds on multiple national technology programmes heralding from the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands, and is in effect the marriage and acceleration of these technology pathways into an early demonstration and a first minimum viable product (MVP) of a liquid hydrogen combusting aeroengine. The project is also connected to activities in other Clean Aviation calls, on SMR and Certification activities specifically, notably project proposals HEAVEN and CONCERTO.