As part of a NASA-backed project, US company JetZero will adapt patents from the French firm SHZ Advanced Technologies to develop a liquid hydrogen-powered flying wing aircraft capable of carrying 250 passengers.
On one side is JetZero, a company based in Long Beach, California, founded in 2020 by former Tesla executive Tom O’Leary. The firm brings together experts from aviation (Airbus, Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Safran, Thales), space (SpaceX), and even the automotive sector (BMW). Its flying wing aircraft, the Z4, is designed to consume half as much fuel as conventional planes. The ambition is to launch a multi-purpose aircraft—suitable for passenger, cargo, and military use—by 2027.
On the other side is SHZ Advanced Technologies, created in 2019 by French engineer Eric Schulz, who previously worked at Goodrich, Rolls-Royce, and Airbus. Alongside his consulting activities, Schulz develops innovations for hydrogen-powered aircraft. According to a JetZero press release, the company plans to collaborate with SHZ on a potential hydrogen version of its flying wing, using SHZ’s storage and distribution patents.
A NASA initiative
This partnership falls under NASA’s Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability (AACES) programme, which aims to develop carbon-neutral aircraft by 2050. JetZero was selected in November 2024 and tasked with exploring technologies that enable the use of cryogenic liquid hydrogen as aviation fuel. These solutions will be assessed both for conventional tube-and-wing aircraft and for JetZero’s blended wing body, a design that allows for larger hydrogen storage capacity.
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