What else can low altitude economy do besides "air taxis"?

Taking an "air taxi" for transportation, allowing drones to transport luggage from the airport to Shanghai Disneyland, and eating live seafood caught on the same day at home... Some have become a reality in Shanghai, while others are about to be realized.

On August 22nd, the Shanghai Municipal Government Information Office and the Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology organized a media interview team for the low altitude economy industry in Jinshan District, Shanghai, focusing on on-site visits to the low altitude economy.

Low altitude economy refers to a comprehensive economic model that operates at a vertical altitude of less than 1000 meters and can be extended to 3000 meters as needed, using low altitude aircraft as carriers and multi scenario low altitude flight activities such as manned, cargo, and other operations as traction, driving the integrated development of related fields. The Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Government attach great importance to the development of the low altitude economy industry. In July of this year, the General Office of the Municipal Government issued the "Action Plan for High Quality Development of Shanghai's Low altitude Economy Industry (2024-2027)", further clarifying the grand blueprint for the development of Shanghai's low altitude economy industry.

01

What is the East China drone base like?

The East China UAV Base located in Jinshan, Shanghai was established on August 30, 2018. It is a UAV base led by the Jinshan District Government and operated by Shanghai New Jinshan Century Aviation Development Co., Ltd. in the Shanghai Bay Area High tech Zone, with the support of the Civil Aviation Administration of China East China, the Municipal Economic and Information Commission, the Municipal Transportation Commission, the Municipal Science and Technology Commission, and others.

East China UAV Base

According to Xu Jinmei, Deputy General Manager of Shanghai Xinjinshan Century Aviation Development Co., Ltd. and Deputy General Manager of Shanghai Aerospace Navigation Entrepreneurship Incubator Company, the East China UAV Base has 1370 square kilometers of airspace and has been approved for 8 UAV logistics routes including Jinshan Zhoushan, Jinshan Huaniao Island, Jinshan Shengsi Island, and Jinshan Longhua Airport, as well as 1 square kilometer of land test takeoff and landing points. It has two cross shaped flight runways with a length of 800 meters and a width of 30 meters. The East China UAV Industrial Park has been built, covering an area of about 50000 square meters, and is equipped with the East China UAV Base Air Traffic Management System (UTMISS system), which fully supports the research and development, test flight, and scenario application testing of various small, medium, and large UAVs.

The takeoff and landing points of unmanned aerial vehicles in East China, Shanghai Jinshan Water Airport, Dajinshan Island, Zhejiang Shengsi Island, Daishan Island, Zhoushan Island, etc. form a triangular island transportation application scenario.

At present, the takeoff and landing points of unmanned aerial vehicles in East China, Shanghai Jinshan Water Airport, Dajinshan Island, Zhejiang Shengsi Island, Daishan Island, Zhoushan Island, etc. form a triangular island transportation application scenario. Xu Jinmei said that by expanding the commercial operation scenarios of unmanned aerial vehicles and improving the efficiency of logistics transportation between islands, Jinshan District and East China Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Base are building a fresh cold chain logistics distribution center, upgrading the consumer experience mode, and attracting large and medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicle R&D and manufacturing enterprises to gather based on the normal operation of unmanned aerial vehicle logistics business.

Various unmanned aerial vehicles displayed in the East China UAV Base As of now, Shanghai has gathered about 50% of the top innovative enterprises in eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) in China, and has been approved as one of the first batch of civil unmanned aerial vehicle test zones in the country. In addition to the "sea shore city" logistics transportation scene in Jinshan, application scenarios such as Yangpu urban low altitude intelligent logistics distribution, Xuhui Binjiang unmanned aerial vehicle cluster performance, and cross city low load passenger transport operation in the Yangtze River Delta region are gradually deepening and expanding. Shanghai has become one of the cities in China with the earliest layout of low altitude economy and the highest degree of integrated and coordinated development of low altitude economy in the Yangtze River Delta.

02

Drone delivery of medicine and luggage will be launched

On the morning of August 22nd, a white vertical takeoff and landing fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle "Fengzhou 90" took off from a water platform next to the urban beach in Jinshan District, Shanghai, and flew towards the Zhoushan Islands on the other side of the sea.

The "Fengzhou 90" took off from a water platform next to the urban beach in Jinshan District, Shanghai.

After a closed-loop sea flight demonstration, the fully loaded drone re entered people's view and landed steadily on the water platform. The cargo personnel who had been waiting here opened the cargo compartment cover of the drone and brought out fresh Zhoushan seafood and Taohua Island yellow croaker from inside The freight personnel opened the cargo compartment cover of the drone and took out fresh Zhoushan seafood and Taohua Island yellow croaker.

At present, Fengyu Shuntu Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. uses the "Fengzhou 90" unmanned aerial vehicle to operate the cross sea fresh cold chain transportation service from Zhoushan Archipelago to Jinshan in Shanghai. It has achieved a normal operation of 10 flights per day and 50 flights per week. Fresh and direct Zhoushan Sea fresh food continuously "flies" into the dining tables of Shanghai citizens every day, demonstrating the beautiful application prospects of low altitude economy. Sun Biao, Sales Director of Fengyi Technology in East China, introduced that the Fengzhou 90 drone adopts an 8-rotor+2 propulsion configuration, with a cargo compartment volume of 72 liters and a maximum takeoff weight of 95 kilograms. It has multiple load range schemes, and can fly up to 120 kilometers when the maximum load (referring to cargo) is 10 kilograms, and up to 65 kilometers when the maximum load is 20 kilograms. Moreover, it only needs a flat ground of 10x10 meters to take off and land in place.

On May 28, 2024, the company successfully completed the first flight verification from Shanghai Jinshan East China Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Base to Longhua Airport. The cross sea route spans four administrative districts in Shanghai, with a total distance of 47 kilometers and only takes half an hour to fly. This means that live seafood produced in Zhoushan, Zhejiang will stop at Jinshan and arrive in Xuhui District in the center of Shanghai in half an hour. The longest range of this drone is 120 kilometers, but the range is not a problem. We will make a stop at the Jinshan water platform, spend three minutes (to replace the drone's battery), and then take off to Longhua Airport in Xuhui Binjiang. "Sun Biao said that in the past, due to the impact of weather on sea ferry schedules and the time cost of sea to land transportation, the Zhoushan seafood that Shanghai citizens often ate was frozen seafood. Nowadays, with the normalization of drone sea transportation of seafood, Shanghai citizens can truly enjoy live seafood at their doorstep. "Currently, seafood restaurants in Shanghai, including some supermarkets and group companies, have similar seafood express delivery needs, and there are many of them Standing on the water platform of Jinshan District where the drone took off, the three islands of Jinshan on the opposite sea surface are clearly visible. Sun Biao also revealed that they will launch a normalized operation of drone delivery of medicine and luggage. For example, using drones to quickly transport urgently needed drugs from pharmaceutical companies to tertiary hospitals, or crossing the Huangpu River to deliver emergency drugs, blood products, emergency documents, etc. across the river, the entire 8-kilometer journey only takes a few minutes. Many people may bring a lot of luggage when they go out for tourism or business. We plan to use drones to transport everyone's luggage from Pudong Airport first, to a transfer point, and then to Shanghai Disneyland. The entire luggage transportation process will be handled by drones, improving the efficiency and experience of people's business trips. This will also be a driving force for the application of low altitude economy scenarios in the entire Shanghai city, and this service will become a normalized operation

03

All three core components of 'air taxis' have been localized

Entering the factory of Shanghai Yufeng Future Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. in the High tech Zone of the Shanghai Bay Area, a 2-ton manned electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft MATRIX 1 (M1) original proportion verification aircraft with outstretched wings and ready to fly comes into view. Yue Tingting, Vice President of Brand Marketing and Public Relations at Shanghai Yufeng Future Aviation Technology Co., Ltd., introduced that this M1 verification aircraft will undergo interior assembly in the near future. In just over two months, people will be able to see its charm in the low altitude travel exhibition area of the 7th China International Import Expo's automotive exhibition hall.

The M1 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft independently developed by Yufeng Future is undergoing test flights.

The M1 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft independently developed by Yufeng Future adopts a composite wing configuration scheme, with 20 rotors, a maximum load capacity of 700 kilograms, a capacity of 5 passengers, a cruising speed of 200 kilometers per hour, and a designed range of 250 kilometers. In the future, it will mainly be used to meet the demand for short distance air travel within and between cities, reducing the travel distance from 2-3 hours to about 30 minutes, and is widely regarded as the "air taxi" of the future.

Yue Tingting introduced that M1 successfully made its maiden flight in October 2023, officially becoming China's first independently developed and domestically produced 2-ton electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. All three core components of the electric system, flight control system, and composite materials were domestically produced, and it was officially accepted for airworthiness certification by the Civil Aviation Administration of China in January this year.

According to the "Action Plan for High Quality Development of Low altitude Economy Industry in Shanghai (2024-2027)" released in July this year, by 2027, Shanghai will establish a complete industrial system for the research and development, final assembly and manufacturing, airworthiness testing, and commercial application of new low altitude aircraft, and create a highland for innovation, commercial application, and operation services in the low altitude economy industry. The core industry scale will reach more than 50 billion yuan, leading the way in global low altitude economy innovation and development.

Among them, Shanghai will focus on developing iconic products, targeting industrial grade unmanned aerial vehicles, tiltrotor and vertical takeoff and landing composite wing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, and expanding and strengthening core support products for low altitude economy; Focus on building the "four networks" of facility network, air route network, air network, and service network, and construct a comprehensive, multi-level, and ground air interconnected infrastructure system; Focus on creating commercial application scenarios, deeply explore commercial potential in logistics transportation, low altitude cultural tourism, smart cities, and manned transportation, and achieve the landing of "100+" low altitude flight service applications, transforming from a "niche pilot" to a "mass experience".

04

The advantages of using carbon fiber composite materials to manufacture drones are obvious

Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Sinopec) located in Jinshan District, Shanghai, fully demonstrates the application prospects of carbon fiber composite materials in low altitude aircraft (drones).

Shanghai Petrochemical is a holding subsidiary of Sinopec and one of the major integrated refining and chemical enterprises in China. It is also an important production base for refined oil, intermediate petrochemical products, synthetic resins, synthetic fibers, and carbon fiber composite materials in China. Li Peng, General Manager of Shanghai Petrochemical's Carbon Fiber Division, stated that carbon fiber composite materials have excellent properties such as light weight, high strength, high stiffness, fatigue resistance, and low thermal expansion coefficient, making them suitable for large-scale application in the structural manufacturing of drones. This enables drones to maintain high performance while achieving lightweight, miniaturization, and high stability, while improving their durability and reducing production costs.

Two carbon fiber drones displayed in the Shanghai Petrochemical Exhibition Hall

In Li Peng's opinion, drones made of carbon fiber composite materials can be used for a long time in harsh environments and can perform special tasks. Moreover, carbon fiber composite materials have outstanding advantages in improving drone performance, extending service life, and reducing costs, and their important value has been widely verified.

At present, countries around the world are extensively using advanced composite materials, mainly carbon fiber composite materials, on unmanned aerial vehicles, accounting for 60% to 80% of the total structural mass fraction, reducing the weight of the aircraft by more than 25%. For example, the wings, wing beams, wing boxes, and other components of the US "Global Hawk" unmanned reconnaissance aircraft extensively use carbon fiber composite materials, accounting for over 65% of the total structure; The Zephyr drone developed by Airbus in Europe has a wingspan of 25 meters. Due to the use of a carbon fiber composite body, the aircraft weighs only 75 kilograms. Its lightweight structure allows the Zephyr drone to carry a payload of up to 23 kilograms at an altitude of 21340 meters, setting a record for 42 days of unmanned flight.

It is worth mentioning that the development of China's "pterosaur" unmanned aerial vehicle has now adopted carbon fiber composite materials for its body. Due to its stable performance, it has participated in tasks such as disaster inspection, anti drug and anti smuggling, ecological environment protection, atmospheric composition research, complex terrain exploration, high-altitude meteorological observation, agricultural drug spraying, and forest fire prevention in multiple fields. The first all carbon fiber composite structure unmanned test aircraft in China, the "Thunderbird" (LN60F), is powered by hydrogen fuel cells. It has a height of 2.2 meters, a body length of 4.7 meters, a wingspan of 10.5 meters, a takeoff weight of 257 kilograms, a cruising speed of 120 kilometers per hour, and a range of 4 hours.

Domestically produced 48K large fiber bundle carbon fiber

Li Peng revealed that with the successful development and production of domestically produced carbon fiber and its composite materials by Shanghai Petrochemical, especially the progress and development of domestically produced 48K large fiber bundle carbon fiber, it has the characteristics of lower fiber production costs, higher processing efficiency of composite products, and more economic advantages. Therefore, the commercial mass production of carbon fiber composite body or components for drones will bring economic benefits that will promote the further rapid development of the low altitude economy industry in China. At present, more than ten companies in the East China UAV Base have established connections and cooperation with Shanghai Petrochemical in the field of carbon fiber composite materials.