Current Shunya concept: seven electric propulsion units, two isolated battery packs and a SAF fuel tank for proposed hybrid-electric missions; six passengers plus one pilot.
Propulsion Unit Count
7
Redundancy Approach
Public component counts do not establish electrical independence or validated degraded-flight capability.
Range / Speed
Design performance depends on battery-only versus hybrid mission assumptions. No normalized range is assigned.
Seat Count
6
Last Updated
October 27, 2026
The 1 September 2026 Tata Elxsi agreement supports flight-critical engineering and certification planning. Sarla leads the aircraft type-certification work, with first flight targeted 18–24 months after the release and certification activities to follow. An accepted full-scale TC application is not established by the reviewed sources.
Freeze and substantiate the full-scale configuration, demonstrate first flight and identify the authority-accepted certification basis and application scope.
Shunya is Sarla Aviation's six-passenger-plus-pilot VTOL development program. The current company product page describes a hybrid-electric concept, despite the broad eVTOL wording in the partner announcement.
Image: Official Sarla concept imagery illustrates the exterior proposal; it does not validate the current internal hybrid installation.
The current website identifies seven EPUs, two isolated battery packs and a SAF fuel tank. It proposes battery-only urban missions and longer hybrid missions.
The website's battery/hybrid range references and Tata Elxsi's 300 km-plus description use different mission bases. Range and energy-storage values are left unnormalized until a dated, configuration-specific technical reference reconciles them.
On 1 September 2026 Tata Elxsi announced an MOU supporting avionics, flight-control software integration, verification, validation and certification. Sarla retains responsibility for aircraft design, development and type certification.
The release targets first flight within 18–24 months, with certification activities expected to follow. Scaled Sylla demonstrator evidence is not treated as full-scale Shunya flight or certification progress.
The program targets passenger mobility, with proposed cargo and ambulance layouts. The normalized seat field records six passengers; the proposed pilot makes seven occupants in the primary layout.
Full-scale aircraft readiness, energy-architecture definition and authority-accepted certification plans remain the decisive evidence gaps. A supplier MOU and a demonstrator campaign do not establish aircraft approval.
Sarla Aviation — Shunya current hybrid-electric concept — reviewed 27 October 2026. Current page describes two battery packs, SAF fuel tank and seven EPUs, with six passengers plus pilot. Battery/hybrid ranges use different mission bases from September partner release; normalized range omitted.
Tata Elxsi — Shunya development and certification partnership — 2026-09-01. Partner states Sarla leads aircraft type certification; first flight targeted 18–24 months after announcement, certification activities to follow. This is a plan, not accepted TC application.
October 27, 2026
