Aerospace start-ups: Between ambitions and challenges
While the aeronautics sector must renew itself to meet the climate challenge and be able to fly with net zero emissions by 2050, many start-ups are emerging, mainly in the United States and Europe, to meet this challenge.
A revolution in air transport is underway
Most of these start-ups have ambitious goals, and a leitmotif: to design and produce low-carbon aircraft. This is a major ambition as there are many challenges, both technically and from an organizational point of view, as well as in relation to industrialization and certification.
Two technological bricks open the prospects of decarbonizing the sector within 15 to 20 years.
- On the one hand, electric, whose industrial maturity has been driven by the automotive sector. It is now a question of extending these specificities to the aviation world, such as Voltaero, Volocopter, Ampaire, Ascendance Flight Technologies and Aura Aero, which are betting on hybrid propulsion architectures using batteries.
- On the other hand, hydrogen is the subject of numerous studies and prototypes in order to come into play in commercial aviation within fifteen years. These include Beyond Aero, Blue Spirit Aero, H3 dynamics, and players in light aviation.
The major players in commercial aviation are closely monitoring these advances to ensure their technological watch and be at the forefront of the latest trends. This is the case of the European manufacturer Airbus, and its Airbus Development branch, which has supported 1500 companies over the past 25 years, and in particular start-up in the regions where it is present. This is the case of Blue Spirit Aero, working on a 4-seater aircraft 100% dihydrogen from 2026, and awarded last year by Airbus Development. Its American competitor offers the same support through the Boeing Start-up Program.
All these design transformations must consider the downstream constraints, such as the infrastructure that must allow these aircraft to be operated daily. The Aerospace sector is facing a disruption in terms of use, as with VTOLs, but also in terms of technologies, with the introduction of new fuels such as SAF, electricity and hydrogen. These dimensions require a global evolution of the ecosystem to meet the needs of these new devices.
VTOLs need specific and numerous landing surfaces to fulfill their promise of flexibility. As for electric aircraft, they need many charging stations. Plans to install charging stations are underway at some airfields in Île-de-France, but this remains marginal. Finally, for hydrogen, the transition to commercial scale will depend heavily on the ability to produce carbon-free hydrogen, powered by a wind or nuclear farm. In the long term, it is vital to set up a virtuous global system where the two ends of the ecosystem, start-up and infrastructures, evolve together, thus creating favorable conditions for the development of tomorrow’s aircraft.
Particularly complex operational and industrial challenges to meet
In this ambition, start-ups and their teams are facing constraints often marked by complexity. Whether it concerns technical, operational, or administrative aspects, let’s take a look at the major challenges that stand in their way.
Ability to access private and public finance
Aerospace start-ups often need to raise significant funds to finance research and development, testing, and certification. On the public side, many states support their industries. This is the case for France, where the state is involved through the France 2030 program, which will provide 1.2 billion euros for the Aeronautics sector, with one-third for emerging players in the sector. The plan aims to support the industry, both in terms of innovation and industrialization.
These financial aids are more welcome than ever; however, the needs are much greater when it comes to entering the industrialization phase, and private fundraising, sensitive to the high risks associated with manufacturing, is more difficult to achieve, especially with French investors. Public funding, on the other hand, often requires meeting strict specifications and navigating complex administrative processes.
Modeling & Design, to get Design approval.
The technical challenges are colossal to fly disruptive concepts and architectures: open rotor, hybridization, integration of hydrogen in the propulsion chain, cooling of the hydrogen cell, etc. Not to mention that they must meet strict safety and performance standards. These aircraft concepts rely on technological building blocks that are themselves still maturing, so it is necessary to develop rigorous testing methods in parallel to qualify and validate these advances. This is often a costly and time-consuming process, involving multiple iterations.
Certification, to authorize the first flights.
Aerospace start-ups aim to revolutionize air transport with passenger-carrying aircraft. Therefore, they must comply with certification standards (EASA, FAA…) and meet particularly stringent reliability and safety requirements. Flight tests, inspections, and audits by civil aviation authorities are key milestones that can cause delays or additional costs, potentially straining their financial or human capital. To address this challenge, start-ups often proceed step by step, aiming to certify their prototypes and initial vehicles under standards such as CS-23, which is more suited to light and regional aviation, before reaching commercial aviation standards. CS-23 was updated in 2020 to revitalize certified light aviation with Amendment 5, allowing manufacturers to proactively propose means of demonstrating compliance, potentially reducing certification costs, which previously required pushing prototypes to the breaking point during tests.
Industrialization, to obtain production approval
The topic of industrialization is fundamental, as it involves manufacturing capabilities (e.g., creation of factories, assembly lines, warehouses, tooling…). Production approval also entails regular audits and strict quality controls, which can be challenging for resource-limited structures. Subsequently, it will be necessary to increase production rates to meet the orders of the first customers. This requires securing the supply chain from suppliers to scale up and deliver aircraft in series while maintaining perfect control over quality and safety for end users.
Organization, to maintain the agility of the start-up mode
The transition from ‘garage’ mode to industrial mode must retain the original flexibility while ensuring the processes, methods, and tools are strengthened to meet the market’s scalability demands. These upcoming transformations should not disrupt the original motivations either. It is about preserving the startup’s values and growing without losing its soul. The journey from the creation of the startup to the market launch of a certified aircraft is long. These startups, often founded around charismatic leaders, must ensure the transmission of the initial values, passion, and vision to new hires.
Human resources, to avoid skills shortages
Many start-ups face difficulties in recruiting the right profiles, retaining them, and capitalizing on knowledge to sustain expertise within teams. The required profiles are very diverse, ranging from R&D to production. Some start-ups find themselves in a shortage of profiles due to their geographical location and must look beyond the local employment pool. There is also a strong temptation to recruit experienced profiles from established industries who bring essential skills. However, these resources can also bring large company work methods, potentially reducing agility if they do not question their work habits to adapt to smaller structures.
Faced with an environmental challenge that affects an entire industry, aerospace start-ups have a key role to play. While their ambitions are up to the challenge, these companies must overcome the various operational and industrial challenges they face. To assist them in this effort, concrete methods that have already proven effective exist. In an upcoming article, we will delve deeper into the solutions that can help them manage complexity and turn their gamble into industrial success
Nicolas LAMBERT
Senior Partner
François VERGNET
Senior Manager
