Sora Aviation partners with Toray Advanced Composites for S-1 eVTOL

Sora Aviation announced at the Farnborough International Airshow today that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Toray Advanced Composites. Sora Aviation is just one company showcasing its future eVTOL aircraft at Farnborough this year.

The two companies will work together to integrate advanced carbon fibre composite materials for the Sora S-1 airframe and its proprotor blades.

The statement notes that the materials will be utilised in both primary and secondary structures, minimising weight while maximising strength and durability. These will contribute to improved aircraft performance, increased energy efficiency, and long-term operational reliability.

Furqan Afzal, Chief Executive Officer at Sora Aviation, noted that the agreement “provides a strong foundation for both prototyping and series production of the S-1.”

Sora Aviation describes the aircraft as the “first of its kind” and designed in the United Kingdom. The aircraft is a clean-sheet aircraft optimized for high capacity on promising routes.

Toray Advanced Composites is the UK’s CFRP leader

The partnership focuses on the supply of advanced composite material solutions for the S-1 eVTOL air taxi. The Sora S-1 is a 30-passenger six-rotor aircraft with one pilot and one cabin crew.

Dr Stuart Morris, Business Growth Leader – Aerospace at Toray Advanced Composites, said during the announcement, “Working together with Sora Aviation reflects Toray Advanced Composites’ ongoing commitment to enabling innovation within the eVTOL sector through advanced composite material solutions.”

Toray Advanced Composites describes its composites as exceptionally strong, heat-resistant, and lightweight materials that offer “unlimited advancement opportunities for the aerospace and defense industries to reduce weight, improve performance, and lower the total cost of critical structures.”

It is one of the world’s largest suppliers of carbon-fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) prepregs, thermoplastic composites, and advanced composite materials for aerospace. Its products are found in Boeing 787s, 777Xs, 737 MAXs, Airbus A320s, A350s, A220s, and other aircraft.

Britain to enter eTVOL aircraft

Sora Aviation stressed its British credentials and the S-1 being a British aircraft. The company says that the signing underscores the “importance of the UK’s premier aerospace exhibition as a catalyst for industrial collaboration and innovation.”

The MoU is acclaimed as a shared commitment to long-term cooperation, engineering excellence, and “strengthening the UK’s advanced aerospace manufacturing ecosystem.” The UK boasts one of the world’s largest aerospace industries, and British DNA can be found in most commercial aircraft flying today.

Like other eVTOL aircraft, the S-1 is designed as a zero-emission solution to congested cities but leans more into being an eVTOL shuttle bus than an eVTOL taxi.