World’s first 100-kilometer hydrogen-powered multi-rotor drone successfully debuts

The Tianmushan No. 1, a new hydrogen-powered drone, made a smooth landing in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province on August 26, 2024. (Photo: Science and Technology Daily)

The Tianmushan No. 1, a new hydrogen-powered drone, made a smooth landing in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, on Monday, and is expected to be a game-changer in the market with its long flight endurance, ability to operate in ultra-low temperatures, and eco-friendly design.

The Tianmushan No. 1 has transformed the application of traditional industrial Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), offering strong market prospects due to its unique capabilities in continuous long-distance operation and its reliability in the cold, harsh conditions of North China, Xu Weiqiang, the chief designer of The Tianmushan No. 1said.

The Tianmushan No. 1 developed by a research team from the Tianmushan Laboratory has long flight endurance, adaptability to ultra-low temperatures, and eco-friendly features, Xu told the Science and Technology Daily, addressing the dominant problems among industrial drones.

With a technical capacity for continuous operations beyond 100 kilometers, the drone is equipped with an integrally molded fuselage with lightweight carbon fiber, giving it an empty weight of 19 kilograms and a maximum load weight of 6 kilograms. Its long-flight capacity comes from the completely self-developed hydrogen power system, which consists of hydrogen fuel cells and storage devices. The air-cooled fuel cell stack utilized in the system provides a maximum energy density of more than 1,000 Wh/kg, five to six times that of lithium batteries, Science and Technology Daily noted.

The Tianmushan No. 1 is a significant development in the technological innovation of the field of low-altitude economy as well as a momentum for the combination of intelligence general aviation and low-altitude economy industries, the laboratory said. In addition, Tianmushan No. 1 is the world's first hydrogen-powered drone fitted with an integrated parachute, meaning that should an accident occur during flight, it will automatically deploy the parachute to minimize the risk, according to media reports.