Overview
- Rolls-Royce and easyJet completed ground tests at NASA’s Stennis Space Center of a modified Pearl 15 business‑jet engine running on 100% gaseous hydrogen through a full simulated flight cycle, including takeoff power.
- The partners called the demonstration an industry first, and easyJet, which financed the work, cast the milestone as progress toward its net‑zero plan.
- Engineers validated hydrogen combustion plus fuel and control systems, exercised fault scenarios, and gathered data that clarifies how hydrogen behaves in a modern gas turbine.
- The campaign extends a four‑year program that ran an AE2100 on hydrogen in the UK in 2022 and tested a Pearl combustor in Germany in 2023, with the UK Health and Safety Executive and Tata Consultancy Services supporting hydrogen infrastructure and engineering.
- Major hurdles for aircraft design, on‑airport storage and fuel supply, and certification mean commercial hydrogen flights remain years away.