Indian startup BluJ Aerospace is developing a family of electric and hydrogen-electric VTOL aircraft aimed first at cargo and logistics missions, with passenger service planned as a longer-term goal.
Founded in 2022 by aerospace engineers Maruthi Amardeep Sri Vatsavaya and Utham Kumar Dharmapuri, the Hyderabad-based company has flown two battery-electric prototypes and is developing a hydrogen-electric propulsion system for longer-range variants.
The company’s near-term focus is Reach, an autonomous cargo aircraft designed to carry a 200-kg (440.9-lb.) payload while remaining below a 500-kg maximum takeoff weight. BluJ is targeting certification of Reach in the next 12 months and commercialization within 12-18 months, Dharmapuri said.
The aircraft employs a lift-plus-cruise configuration featuring six lift rotors mounted on twin booms connecting a larger forward wing to a slightly smaller aft wing. Two tractor propellers mounted beneath the forward wing provide thrust. A central cargo pod forms the fuselage, with a large forward-opening nose section providing direct access to the payload compartment. The aircraft sits on fixed landing gear and lacks a conventional tail.
BluJ’s founders say the company was created to address regional mobility challenges in India and other markets where ground infrastructure is less developed. But the company narrowed its initial focus to logistics after concluding that cargo operations would provide a more realistic path to deployment than passenger service.
“We felt that logistics is a better path to operations because there’s a real problem today to solve, especially in countries like India,” Dharmapuri said. “We thought for us the gateway to passenger operations would also be logistics.”
01/06/2026 Ben Goldstein/Aviation Week
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