German drone delivery provider Wingcopter has partnered with Hamburg-based ZAL Center of Applied Aeronautical Research to jointly develop a sustainable, hydrogen-based propulsion system for Wingcopter’s delivery drones.

Wingcopter’s drones are currently battery-powered and by moving to a hydrogen-based system, the company expects to achieve higher flight times and longer ranges for various delivery use cases.

Once the duo develops the propulsion system for drones, it will be produced by Wingcopter itself and installed in its delivery drones later.

Analyst QuickTake: This is not the first time a drone-based delivery services provider announced plans to incorporate hydrogen-based systems for their drones. In fact, last November , Dronamics, a Bulgarian middle-mile cargo drone manufacturer, also partnered with UK-based aviation tech developer Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (CAeS) to integrate hydrogen fuel-cell technology into its long-range cargo drone.