Aerospace engineers are building a high-voltage test facility to stop future electric aircraft from suffering catastrophic insulation failures mid-flight. As aircraft shift from today’s 540V/800V systems toward megawatt-class power levels—expected to reach over 10 MW within 40 years—the insulation that protects electrical components must withstand voltages up to 24 kV. Current test capabilities cannot handle these demands. The project, led by aerospaceHV, will create a state-of-the-art UK facility that can simulate the extreme electrical stresses of high-altitude flight, filling a critical gap between early-stage component development and certification for flight. If successful, the facility will allow UK companies to prove their high-voltage electrical systems are safe and reliable before they enter service. This directly supports the aerospace industry’s push toward hybrid-electric and all-electric propulsion, which promises quieter, lower-emission air travel. The work also underpins supply chains for next-generation aircraft components, ensuring that advances in power density—from 6.6 kW/kg today to 19.7 kW/kg by 2030—do not come at the cost of safety. The project is applied engineering, not fundamental science, with a clear commercial and regulatory endpoint.
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Since our establishment in 2018, aerospaceHV has been working with partners across the aerospace industry to ensure their 540V/800V product offerings include insulation systems that help deliver safe and reliable performance at acceptable levels of power density. Our existing test / analysis capabilities have supported over 15 companies based in the UK as they develop products ready for the marketplace. In the 800V sector we are seeing the early stage development work now move to larger/longer test programmes seeking to provide evidence that the products are fit for flight. The aerospace industry expects the operating voltage of aircraft electrical systems to continue increase in the future as a result of the deployment of all-electric and hybrid-electric propulsion systems. Existing aircraft operate in the kW power level class, with megawatt levels a goal for a number of demonstrators within the short term. Initially, "more electric" aircraft are planned, with "all electric" being a longer-term goal. Within a 40-year time frame, power levels of over 10 MW are anticipated to be delivered commercially. Power densities of electrical systems are expected to increase from the 6.6 kW/kg in present day to 19.7 kW/kg by 2030 for non-cryogenic systems. If operating currents remain between 600 and 2000 A (based on the need to manage system weight), system voltages will increase to values between 3 and 24 kV. Our project will deliver a state-of-the-art facility for the UK, underpinning the efforts of the aerospace industry to deliver high value electrical systems for use in future aircraft. The provision of leading high voltage test capabilities to the UK sector will ensure that advances in the next generation of aircraft components can be underpinned by an improved understanding of best high voltages can be managed in the aerospace environment.
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