Hybrid electric pioneers, Ascendance, join Rapita Systems Trailblazer Partnership Program

Rapita Systems is delighted to announce that Ascendance has joined a growing number of companies joining their Trailblazer Partnership Program for innovative avionics projects. The Trailblazer Program was developed to support companies working at the cutting edge of aerospace systems development in emerging and disruptive technologies to support the development of reliable critical software in the industry.

Ascendance was co-founded in January 2018 by four former members of the Airbus E-Fan team, Jean-Christophe Lambert (CEO), Benoit Ferran (CTO), Thibault Baldivia (CCO) and Clement Dinel (​Hybrid Director​). The E-Fan was one of the world’s first all-electric airplanes that flew across the English Channel on July 10, 2015. ​Since the company creation, Ascendance has raised more than ​€​5​0 million ($​54​ million) to support the development of the​ir hybrid electric solution Sterna, and their VTOL aircraft​ ATEA​, powered by Sterna​.  

​​Ascendance’ participation in the Trailblazer Program provides them with access to use of the industry-leading Rapita Verification Suite (RVS) tool suite, tool integration and support and maintenance for the ​project's​ software verification and integration needs.  

​​“As the head of embedded systems and hardware team, I was in the need to count on a complete integrated tool suite to address upcoming integration and verification tasks such as WCET, multi-partitioning debugging and analysis as well as unit and functional on-target testing, on a complex, time-critical HW/SW architecture.​​ 

​​​Rapita Systems tools provides this through the RVS solution, they also provided a​​ ​​​technical support, demonstrators and hands-on training. In the end, they offer an extensive solution, beyond the tools themselves.”​​ 

Jorge Quintero
SW and Electronic Leader
Ascendance

Dr. Hashem Ghazzawi, Senior Account Manager at Rapita Systems, worked with Jorge Quintero, Ascendance HW & SW Leader, in joining the program.

Dr. Ghazzawi, who is working with several innovative companies that have recently joined the program, said, “The Rapita Trailblazer Partnership Program has really ​taken off​, supporting new customers using emerging technologies to change the landscape in avionics to meet future needs. It’s exciting to be a part of their journeys. We’re particularly delighted to have Ascendance on board as game changers in driving ​solutions​ for a ​more sustainable ​​aviation ​future, not only in aircraft manufacture but also propulsion systems.”