Hydrogen-combustion turbofans · 39.74° N 104.99° W · Denver

Hydrogen turbofans, built certification-first.

FIG. 01 · COMBUSTOR TEMPERATURE FIELD, ILLUSTRATIVE

ColibriV develops hydrogen-combustion turbofan engines, and the AI that designs them. No carbon from combustion. The engine architecture airlines already trust.

Explore the technologyMeet Design AI

The problem

Aviation needs a fuel that doesn't burn carbon, and an engine it can certify.

Batteries are too heavy for most flights. Fuel cells add new systems that take years to certify. Sustainable fuels help, but they still burn carbon. Hydrogen burns without carbon.

The challenge is doing it safely, cleanly and in a form regulators can approve.

Our approach

How the technology works

Combustion, not compromise

We burn hydrogen in a turbofan, so airlines keep the engine architecture, thrust and maintenance model they know.

Gaseous hydrogen first

We start with compressed gaseous hydrogen. It avoids storing fuel as a liquid at −253 °C, which keeps the first phases simpler to build, test and certify.

Certification-first

We build to aerospace standards from the first test, so every result becomes evidence a regulator can review.

ColibriV Propulsion

Engines first.
Aircraft next.

Hydrogen-combustion turbofan engines. Engines first, aircraft next.

See the program

ColibriV Design AI

Set the goal tonight.
Designs by morning.

The engineering agent we built for our own engine, now open to hardware teams in thermal management, industrial combustion, batteries, structures and more. Set a goal tonight; get ranked, solver-verified designs by morning.

Meet Design AI

How we work

Every test makes the AI smarter. Every design the AI finds goes back to test.

  1. ExploreDesign AI searches thousands of designs overnight.
  2. VerifyReal physics solvers confirm the best candidates.
  3. TestWe build and fire the designs that earn it.
  4. LearnTest data trains the next round of models. Then back to 01.

Design AI beyond engines

The same loop, for the hardware you build.

The physics behind a hydrogen combustor (flow, heat transfer, chemistry and structures) is the same physics behind a cold plate, a burner or a battery pack. Design AI brings that loop to other engineering teams.

Apply as a design partnerSee what Design AI can do
Thermal management
Cold plates, heat sinks and coolant manifolds for data centers and electronics
Industrial combustion
Hydrogen-ready burners, boilers and gas-turbine combustors
Battery and EV thermal
Cooling plates and module thermal design
Structures
Brackets, mounts and frames for drones, eVTOL and robotics
Fluid machinery
Pumps, fans and valves

Engines first. Evidence at every step.

See the full program
  1. Phase 0 · NowFoundationDesign studies, safety framework, test-site plan
  2. Phase 1Test site & first fireSafe hydrogen handling, ignition, stable combustion
  3. Phase 2Performance at pressureEmissions and stability maps, partner evaluations
  4. Phase 3Toward ground runsSafety case, core-engine ground-run plan, certification pathway
  5. Phase 4AircraftTrade studies for a hydrogen aircraft family

Industry context · 2026

In 2026, an industry ground test (opens in a new tab) ran a business-jet turbofan at full take-off power on 100% gaseous hydrogen. Hydrogen combustion works at engine scale.

The next step is making it certifiable, and that is what we build for.

Build what’s next with us.

Engineers, suppliers, researchers, airlines and hardware teams: there's a place for you in this program.

Join the teamPartner with usApply as a design partner