Orbital Corporation Limited (ASX: OEC) announced on 29 July 2026 that it has secured an order from US autonomous cargo aircraft developer MightyFly for three of its Orbital HFE propulsion systems. Orbital Corporation Limited, based in Perth, Western Australia, is a designer and manufacturer of integrated heavy fuel propulsion systems for Group 2 and Group 3 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The company is recognised as a global leader in UAV heavy fuel engine technology. These systems are intended to support MightyFly’s next phase of aircraft development and flight testing as it advances its autonomous cargo aircraft platform towards commercial deployment in the rapidly emerging autonomous middle-mile logistics market.
This significant order further expands Orbital’s growing commercial customer base and validates its HFE propulsion systems for next-generation autonomous aircraft. The autonomous middle-mile logistics sector is seeing increasing development of aircraft to transport high-value, time-critical cargo. MightyFly, a San Francisco Bay Area aerospace company, develops autonomous hybrid eVTOL cargo aircraft designed to enable resilient middle-mile logistics for various applications, including commercial, government, and defence. The delivery of these three engines is scheduled for September 2026.
Orbital CEO Stephen Pearce commented on the order, stating that MightyFly represents exactly the type of commercial customer Orbital targets. He highlighted that MightyFly is developing an innovative platform for a rapidly emerging logistics market where autonomous aviation offers significant operational and economic advantages. Mr. Pearce emphasised that this order is an important first step, anticipating a broader commercial relationship and a pathway to future production opportunities as the platform moves towards commercial deployment. He noted that commercial autonomous aviation programs can transition from development to production more swiftly than traditional defence procurement.
