Global electric aircraft and spacecraft surge as innovators race to redefine the future of flight

Across aviation and spaceflight, the vehicles identified in the search results fall into three major groups:

Electric Aircraft (Battery‑Electric & Hybrid)

These include pioneering models such as the Pipistrel Velis Electro, Eviation Alice, NASA X‑57 Maxwell, and Heart Aerospace ES‑30, representing the shift toward low‑emission regional aviation.

Gasoline / Conventional Aircraft

The search results did not provide a list of gasoline aircraft models — only gasoline fuel suppliers (Shell, ExxonMobil, BP). Therefore, no gasoline aircraft models can be listed.

Spacecraft, Rockets, and Space Shuttles

These include NASA’s Space Shuttle fleet (Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour), modern spacecraft (Crew Dragon, Orion, Shenzhou), and the world’s most powerful rockets (Starship, Saturn V, SLS, Falcon Heavy).

A

• Airbus A330‑900neo — Fuel‑efficient widebody jet consuming 14% less fuel per seat than older A330 models; powered by Rolls‑Royce Trent 7000 engines.
• Airbus E‑Fan — Hybrid‑electric demonstrator supporting Airbus’ decarbonization roadmap.
• ALIA CX300 — Battery‑electric CTOL aircraft by BETA Technologies with ~215‑nm range.
• Ampaire Eco Caravan — Plug‑in hybrid aircraft available for pre‑order.
• Archer Midnight — Battery‑electric eVTOL in certification.
• Ariane 6 — Europe’s next‑gen heavy launcher restoring EU autonomy.
• Atlantis (Space Shuttle) — NASA orbiter with 33 missions; first shuttle to dock with a Russian station.

B

• BETA ALIA CX300 — See ALIA CX300 above.
• Boeing Starliner — NASA commercial crew capsule with development issues.
• Buran — Soviet reusable shuttle; flew one automated mission in 1988.
• Bye Aerospace eFlyer 800 — Electric twin‑engine aircraft concept.

C

• Cassio 330 (VoltAero) — Hybrid‑electric aircraft for regional operations.
• Challenger (Space Shuttle) — NASA orbiter lost in 1986 during STS‑51‑L.
• Columbia (Space Shuttle) — First operational shuttle; lost during re‑entry in 2003.
• Crew Dragon — SpaceX crew capsule for ISS missions.
• Cygnus — ISS cargo spacecraft by Northrop Grumman.

D

• Discovery (Space Shuttle) — NASA’s most‑flown orbiter (39 missions).
• Dream Chaser — Lifting‑body spaceplane for ISS cargo; future crewed variant planned.

E

• Electron — Small launch vehicle by Rocket Lab.
• Endeavour (Space Shuttle) — NASA orbiter built to replace Challenger; 25 missions.
• Energia — Soviet heavy‑lift rocket that launched Buran.
• Eviation Alice — All‑electric 9‑passenger aircraft; first flight in 2022.

F

• Falcon 9 — World’s most‑flown orbital rocket; reusable first stage.
• Falcon Heavy — Heavy‑lift rocket with 63.8‑ton LEO capacity.

H

• Heart Aerospace ES‑30 — Hybrid‑electric regional aircraft with 200‑km electric range.
• HTV‑X — Japan’s next‑gen ISS cargo spacecraft.

J

• Joby S4 — Electric eVTOL air taxi in flight testing.

L

• Lange Antares 23 — Electric self‑launching glider with composite structure.
• Long March 5B — Chinese heavy‑lift rocket for Tiangong modules.
• Long March 9 — China’s future super‑heavy rocket (in development).

N

• NASA X‑57 Maxwell — Experimental distributed‑electric‑propulsion aircraft.
• New Glenn — Blue Origin heavy‑lift rocket (45‑ton LEO).
• New Shepard — Suborbital reusable rocket for space tourism.
• N1 Rocket — Soviet Moon rocket; all launches failed.

O

• Orion (Artemis) — NASA’s deep‑space crew capsule for lunar missions.

P

• Pipistrel Velis Electro — First type‑certified electric aircraft; used for pilot training.
• PSLV — India’s medium‑lift workhorse rocket.
• Progress — Russian ISS cargo spacecraft.

R

• Rolls‑Royce Spirit of Innovation — Record‑setting electric aircraft demonstrator.

S

• Saturn V — NASA Moon rocket; 13/13 successful launches.
• Shenzhou — China’s crewed spacecraft for Tiangong.
• Solar Impulse 2 — Solar‑powered aircraft that flew around the world.
• Soyuz — Most‑flown crewed spacecraft in history.
• Space Launch System (SLS) — NASA’s Artemis heavy‑lift rocket.
• Starship / Super Heavy — World’s most powerful rocket; fully reusable.
• Sunseeker Duo — Solar‑powered aircraft with 1510 solar cells.

T

• Tianzhou — China’s ISS‑equivalent cargo spacecraft.
• Textron Cessna Grand Caravan EX — High‑payload conventional aircraft (not electric).

V

• Vega‑C — European small‑medium launcher.
• Vertical VX4 — Winged eVTOL aircraft in testing.
• VoltAero Cassio 330 — See Cassio 330 above.
• Vulcan Centaur — ULA heavy‑lift rocket replacing Atlas V.

W

• Wright 1 — Planned zero‑emission single‑aisle aircraft for 2032.