Shareholders in eVTOL aircraft developer Vertical Aerospace have approved a reverse stock split required to be compliant with New York Stock Exchange rules. The one-for-ten split was approved by the UK company’s board following an annual general meeting on September 16 and will take effect when Wall Street trading closes on September 20.

Markedly lower costs and a potentially vast domestic market would appear to support the case that China is fertile territory for cultivating the new advanced air mobility sector. According to Louis Liu, the founder and CEO of Beijing-based consultancy DAP Technologies, strong political will from the highest levels of China’s government to achieve growth from the so-called “low-altitude economy” is now bolstering prospects for the country’s eVTOL pioneers.

A new uncrewed cargo VTOL aircraft being developed by UK start-up Qdot Technology is to be powered by a hydrogen-electric fuel cell propulsion system developed by H3 Dynamics. On September 18, the companies announced a partnership they said would extend the range of the autonomous aircraft up to 600 kilometers (326 nm), or 250 kilometers with a 200-kilogram (440 pounds) payload.

Heart Aerospace on September 12 unveiled the first full-scale demonstrator of its 30-passenger ES-30 hybrid-electric regional airliner. During the “hangar day” event at its Gothenburg, Sweden headquarters, the company said it will use the Heart X1 experimental aircraft to complete the development of the ES-30 and aims to start flight testing in second-quarter 2025.

The U.S. Air Force is continuing to back efforts to develop autonomous flight technology through a pair of new contracts for Reliable Robotics. On September 16, the California-based company announced the award of an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for possible applications of its navigation and “always on” autopilot systems on airlift and refueling aircraft.

Urban air mobility infrastructure specialist eVertiSky has acquired Volatus Infrastructure & Energy Solutions (VI&E), a Wisconsin-based company that since 2021 has been developing vertiports and charging stations for eVTOL aircraft. Chicago-based eVertiSky will integrate its software-defined airspace platform with VI&E’s universal charging stations and modular vertiport architecture to offer a comprehensive suite of infrastructure solutions for urban air mobility operations in densely populated areas.

Aircraft developer Hermeus earlier this week broke ground for a hypersonic engine and flight test facility at Jacksonville's Cecil Airport. Set to become Hermeus’s largest and most technologically advanced site, the High Enthalpy Air-Breathing Test Facility in Florida is anticipated to be the initial base for Hermeus’s high-Mach flight tests beginning in 2026.