Heart Aerospace has received a $2.9 million award from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to develop and test part of the hybrid-electric propulsion system for its planned ES-36 regional airliner. The Los Angeles-based manufacturer announced the funding on 12 October 2026, with an equal company contribution bringing the research and demonstration budget to $5.8 million over two years.
Ground tests before demonstration flights
The money comes through the fourth phase of the FAA's Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions, and Noise programme, known as CLEEN. It supports Project HYPER, Heart's effort to develop the turbogenerator that will produce electricity during flight. Each of the aircraft's two propulsion nacelles is designed to contain one megawatt-class unit.
Heart's announcement sets out a sequence beginning with integrated ground tests of the generators, batteries and electric motors, followed by demonstrations on a pre-production ES-36. That aircraft is scheduled to fly in 2028. The work will collect energy-use, fuel-consumption, emissions and noise data for certification.
A revised regional-aircraft design
The ES-36 seats 36 passengers and uses a series-hybrid arrangement. As Aviation International News reports, two 1.65-megawatt electric motors drive the propellers, while the turbogenerators provide additional electricity for longer flights. Heart plans FAA Part 25 certification and is targeting commercial service in 2031.
The configuration marks another change in the company's development path. Heart originally proposed a series-hybrid system for its earlier, 30-seat ES-30 in 2022. It later moved to an independent-hybrid layout, using conventional turboprops for the outer propellers and electric motors for the inner pair. The ES-36 returns to turbogenerators, now located in the two nacelles.
AIN says Heart describes the turbogenerator as its own design, using a commercially available gas turbine whose supplier has not been identified. The distinction matters when tracking development: the award supports the integration and demonstration of a propulsion system that still has testing and certification work ahead.
Building on earlier FAA support
AVweb's report places the award alongside previous FAA support through the Fueling Aviation's Sustainable Transition programme. That earlier funding backed Heart's hybrid propulsion-management technology. The latest research is intended to provide operational evidence for the ES-36 and help inform the agency's evaluation of future hybrid-electric aircraft.
Heart introduced the ES-36 in September as the successor to the ES-30. Its published targets are 125 miles on battery power and up to 745 miles in hybrid operation, in both cases with reserves. JSX has made a deposit-backed purchase agreement for 50 aircraft, with purchase rights for another 50.
For the programme, the next practical milestones are the ground-test campaign and the planned pre-production flight demonstrations. The FAA award provides a defined research budget and timetable, while the aircraft's range, certification and service-entry dates remain development targets. Airline customers will ultimately need those targets demonstrated in a certificated aircraft before the proposed regional services can begin.
The two-year project also puts propulsion testing at the centre of the near-term schedule. Its results should provide operational evidence for regulators, with demonstrations addressing how the components perform together rather than assessing each component in isolation.
Image: AI-generated conceptual editorial illustration, not a photograph of the event, aircraft or facility.
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