Month: September 2026

The French Riviera is preparing to build the fuelling infrastructure for a new generation of zero-emission business jets, in one of the first concrete moves to ready an airport network for hydrogen-powered flight.

The plan comes under a partnership, announced on 3rd September, between the French aircraft developer Beyond Aero and Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur, Europe’s second-largest airport operator for business aviation, which runs Nice Côte d’Azur, Cannes-Mandelieu and Golfe de Saint-Tropez. After nearly three years working together, the two are now mapping out a phased rollout of hydrogen infrastructure timed to the first aircraft expected in the early 2030s.

Why business aviation goes first

There is a logic to starting here. Private aviation is among the most carbon-intensive ways to travel — by Beyond Aero’s reckoning it produces roughly ten times more CO2 per passenger than a commercial flight — which makes it an obvious target for cleaning up. It is also, counter-intuitively, a sensible place to begin: the volumes are small next to commercial aviation, so the fuelling infrastructure can be modest, targeted and scaled gradually, rather than the vast build-out an airline fleet would demand.

A jet that emits only water

Toulouse-based Beyond Aero, founded in 2020, is developing ‘One’, a six-to-eight-seat aircraft whose electric propulsion is driven by hydrogen fuel cells — a design that emits only water vapour in flight. The company says it has completed France’s first crewed hydrogen-electric flight and gathered more than $900 million in letters of intent for over 100 aircraft. If it meets its timeline, ‘One’ would be among the first hydrogen-electric business jets to enter service, in a category so new that European regulators are still writing the rules for it.

The infrastructure problem

The harder half of the equation is on the ground. A hydrogen aircraft is useless without somewhere to refuel, yet few will build fuelling stations before the aircraft exist — a chicken-and-egg problem that has slowed cleaner aviation for years. The Riviera partnership is an attempt to develop both in step, working through how hydrogen would be sourced, stored, distributed and pumped into aircraft, and what it would cost.

“Infrastructure preparation must keep pace with aircraft development,” said Eloa Guillotin, co-founder and CEO of Beyond Aero. “Working with Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur, we are basing our plans on concrete scenarios tailored to business aircraft volumes and utilising currently available technologies. This phased approach is essential to ensure safe, realistic operations from the moment the first aircraft enter service.”

A pragmatic first step

The preferred approach relies on compressed gaseous hydrogen, using technology already available at industrial scale. It would be produced off-site near the airports and trucked in by tube trailer to a distribution station — supply that could also feed other regional needs and help seed a local hydrogen ecosystem. Two refuelling methods are under study: a fixed point beside a dedicated parking area, and a mobile vehicle to transfer hydrogen to the aircraft, both meant to hold down early costs while capacity grows. Cannes-Mandelieu, a busy business-aviation hub, has emerged as the likeliest first site.

“Our role is to anticipate the needs of future operators while ensuring the safety, performance, and cost-efficiency of our infrastructure,” said Franck Goldnadel, Chairman of the Executive Board of Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur. “This partnership enables us to translate our environmental ambitions into concrete, phased operational solutions.”

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Photo credit: Cassandra Tanti

Astronauts working around future Moon bases could soon have their own compact utility vehicle, capable of carrying them across the lunar surface before continuing the job autonomously. Monaco-based Venturi Space has unveiled Alta Luna, a single-seat tracked rover designed to support the practical realities of living and working on the Moon.

Presented at the International Space Summit in Paris on 9th and 10th September, the vehicle is intended to operate close to lunar habitats, transporting astronauts and equipment, preparing terrain and carrying out essential construction work.

Led by Monégasque entrepreneur and Venturi Space president Gildo Pastor, the project offers a glimpse of what daily movement on the Moon could eventually look like: an astronaut climbing aboard a compact tracked vehicle, driving across difficult terrain and receiving real-time information about both the mission and the surrounding space environment.

Built for astronauts to drive on the Moon

Weighing a targeted 300kg, Alta Luna is substantially smaller than Mona Luna, the 750kg exploration rover unveiled by Venturi Space 15 months ago. Its compact dimensions are intended to make it highly manoeuvrable around lunar bases, where astronauts will need to move between habitats, equipment and work sites.

For the first time in one of its lunar programmes, Venturi Space has replaced wheels with tracks. The design is intended to give Alta Luna greater traction and allow it to climb steeper slopes across the Moon’s uneven surface.

The rover can be driven directly by an astronaut or operate autonomously. While its single-seat layout places the astronaut firmly at the controls, artificial intelligence can assist with navigation and other driving functions.

When no astronaut is aboard, Alta Luna can use LiDAR, stereo cameras and AI to navigate independently. It could excavate and grade terrain, prepare routes, help establish basic infrastructure and transport payloads between sites.

Multiple vehicles could also operate as a coordinated fleet, combining their capabilities to complete larger tasks around a lunar settlement.

A rover that can bring its driver home

Alta Luna has also been designed to watch over the person driving it. Its electronics can connect with an astronaut’s spacesuit to monitor their health during a mission.

If the astronaut becomes unwell or incapacitated, the vehicle is designed to take control and return them autonomously to base. Its interface can also deliver mission information and warn the driver of hazards in the wider space environment, including an approaching solar storm.

This combination of manual driving, autonomous navigation and health monitoring positions the rover as both a working vehicle and a safety system for astronauts operating outside their habitat.

The rover uses the battery and battery-management technology developed by Venturi Space. The same technology has been integrated into Venturi Astrolab’s Flex lunar vehicle, which was selected by NASA for development under its Lunar Terrain Vehicle programme for the Artemis missions.

Preparing for everyday life beyond Earth

Rather than being conceived for long-distance exploration alone, Alta Luna is designed around the routine tasks that will become necessary if humans establish a sustained presence on the Moon.

“I enjoy designing vehicles for extreme environments, but above all I like to see them prove their value in real-world conditions,” said Gildo Pastor. “I will therefore devote all the necessary energy to ensuring that Alta Luna supports the first inhabitants of the Moon in their daily lives.”

Antonio Delfino, director of Venturi Space, said future lunar activity would require many of the same systems that support industrial development on Earth.

“On the Moon, we will need to build, develop sites, transport, maintain and connect,” he said. “We will face challenges similar to those of industrialisation on Earth: transport routes, habitats, infrastructure and logistics.”

According to Delfino, meeting those needs will require a range of specialised vehicles able to work individually or as part of a fleet.

The unveiling comes five years after Venturi Space was created and ahead of the planned launch of FLIP, an American lunar rover equipped with Venturi batteries. The vehicle is due to travel to the lunar South Pole aboard Astrobotic’s Griffin-1 lander by the end of the year.

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Main photo source: Venturi Space