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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/liquid-hydrogen-storage-for-aircraft-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Aerospace CryogenicsLiquid Hydrogen Storage for Aircraft Patents
- 73.6% concentration. The top five assignees hold 39 of 53 records in scope — filings are concentrated at the top with a long tail below.
- F17C dominates. Pressure vessels and gas storage classifications (F17C) touch 52.8% of records, more than any other subclass, while drone-specific B64U activity sits at just 11.3%.
- Filings roughly doubled. Recorded filings rose from 2 in 2021 to 4 in 2024, a +100% span, though 2025-2026 counts are still filling in as publications lag.
53
Published Records
74%
Top-5 Share of All Records
+100%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (2 records) with 2024 (4) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 53 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··6 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks 53 published records at the intersection of cryogenic liquid hydrogen tanks and the aircraft-specific engineering problems around them: boil-off management, multilayer insulation, structural tank integration, slosh baffling, vent valve control and fill/drain line design. It spans filings from 2015 through the mid-2026 cut-off, drawn from records classified under pressure vessel, aircraft equipment and propulsion codes.
Because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend chart will understate real filing activity; treat 2024 as the last year with a reasonably complete count.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015-2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Liquid Hydrogen Storage for Aircraft covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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The Numbers
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 53-record corpus: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings climbed from 2 in 2017 toward a peak of 10 in 2023, with 2021 to 2024 alone showing a +100% rise (2 to 4). 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete due to publication lag and should not be read as a slowdown.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
F17C (pressure vessels and gas storage) appears on 52.8% of the 53 records, well ahead of B64D aircraft equipment (34.0%) and B64C airframe classes (28.3%). Because records can carry multiple classes, these shares sum past 100% and should not be added together.
Shares are the percentage of the 53 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Liquid Hydrogen Storage for Aircraft covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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Representative and most-cited filings
Representative filing
US7900434B2 — Thermally-integrated fluid storage and pressurization system
BOEING COMPANY, THE
An oxygen-hydrogen pressurization system includes a cryogenic oxygen tank, cryogenic hydrogen tank, thermal switch, supercritical oxygen bottle, supercritical hydrogen bottle, and pressure management system and a thermodynamic vent system. The thermal switch permits heat to flow between hot and cool areas within the space vehicle to help facilitate pressure management within the cryogenic liquid oxygen tank and liquid hydrogen tank in conjunction with the higher pressure fluid from the supercritical tanks and the added cooling from the pressure management system.Filed by Boeing; granted 2011-03-08. Anchors the thermal-switch approach to dual-cryogen pressure management referenced across later filings.
Most-cited records in scope
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US7559508B1 | Propellant depot in space | 74 |
| 2 | US20170341769A1 | System and method for the transfer of cryogenic fluids | 70 |
| 3 | US3540615A | Panelized high-performance multilayer insulation | 48 |
| 4 | US5094409A | Method of providing a lunar habitat from an external tank | 46 |
| 5 | US20030190506A1 | Cryogenic power conversion for fuel cell systems especially for vehicles | 26 |
| 6 | WO2020182308A1 | A fuel tank arrangement in a marine vessel and a method of relieving hydrogen from a liquid hydrogen fuel tan… | 23 |
| 7 | WO2000043267A2 | Payload carry and launch system | 15 |
| 8 | US20100269487A1 | Thermally-integrated fluid storage and pressurization system | 14 |
| 9 | US20060123902A1 | Level indicator for liquid hydrogen tank | 11 |
| 10 | US6798083B2 | Cryogenic power conversion for fuel cell systems especially for vehicles | 11 |
Citation counts are drawn from within this searched corpus and favour older filings; treat them as a signal of influence, not current relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Liquid Hydrogen Storage for Aircraft covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the data tells you
Three read-throughs of the numbers that matter for a filing or freedom-to-operate decision.
Concentration
73.6%
of 53 records held by top 5 assignees
Filing activity sits with a small group
The top five assignees account for 39 of the 53 records in scope, a 73.6% share, while the tenth-ranked assignee holds only 2 records. That leaves a long tail of single- or double-filing entrants below the leaders.
Ranking covers 20 companies total
Technology focus
52.8%
of records touch F17C pressure vessels
Tank pressure engineering is the densest claim space
F17C pressure vessel and gas storage classifications appear on over half of all records, ahead of B64D aircraft equipment (34.0%) and B64C airframe integration (28.3%). Drone-specific B64U filings remain comparatively rare at 11.3%.
Classes overlap; shares do not sum to 100%
Momentum
+100%
filing growth, 2021 to 2024
Activity roughly doubled into the recent peak
Filings rose from 2 in 2021 to 4 in 2024, and the field's peak year so far was 2023 at 10 records. Because publication lags filing, 2025-2026 figures are not yet a reliable read on direction.
2024 is the last complete-enough year
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Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to liquid hydrogen storage for aircraft, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Liquid Hydrogen Storage for Aircraft covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The leader board is short and concentrated; most of the ranked companies below it hold only one or two records each.
Leader
18
records held by the top assignee
A single leader well ahead of the field
The top-ranked assignee holds 18 of the 53 records in scope, more than four times the fifth-place holder's count of 4. That gap is the clearest concentration signal in the dataset.
Top 5 combined hold 39 records (73.6%)
Tail
2
records at tenth place
A long tail below the top ten
By tenth place, holdings drop to 2 records, and the top ten together already account for 98.1% of all 53 records. Little filing activity exists outside the ranked twenty companies.
20 companies make up the full ranking
Co-filing
6
shared records in the strongest co-assignee pair
A small cluster of joint filers
Only three co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, with the strongest pairs sharing 6 records each. This points to a tight cluster of individuals and a specialist firm filing together rather than broad industry collaboration.
3 co-assignee pairs identified
Recent-year assignee momentum
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Airbus Operations GmbH | 0 | -100% |
| WURST STEPHEN G | 0 | — |
| SPACE ACCESS | 0 | — |
| SCOTT HARRY | 0 | — |
| NEOEX SYSTEMS INC | 0 | — |
| Wartsila Finland Oy | 0 | — |
| The Boeing Company | 0 | — |
| Stratospheric Platforms Limited | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Liquid Hydrogen Storage for Aircraft covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to take this next
The ranking and trend charts show concentration and pace; the next step is checking specific claim scope against what you plan to file or build.
Check freedom-to-operate on tank pressure management
F17C pressure vessel claims are the densest in this field. Before committing to a specific vent or thermodynamic management approach, map it against the leader's granted claims.
Run a claim comparison →Watch the under-claimed branches
Drone-scale storage and automated vent control show thinner filing density than core tank structure work. A well-drafted first claim there faces less prior art crowding.
Explore white space →Source: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Liquid Hydrogen Storage for Aircraft covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions
Filing activity in this 53-record dataset is concentrated: the leading assignee holds 18 records, and the top five assignees combined hold 39 records, or 73.6% of everything in scope. Below the top ten, holdings drop sharply to single- or double-digit counts, meaning most of the ranked twenty companies are minor players by volume. This concentration suggests that any new entrant should expect to negotiate around a small number of established portfolios rather than a fragmented field.
Pressure vessel and gas storage engineering, classified under F17C, appears on 52.8% of the 53 records in scope, making it the single densest technology area. Aircraft equipment integration (B64D, 34.0%) and airframe-level claims (B64C, 28.3%) follow behind it. Because a single record can carry several IPC classes, these percentages overlap rather than sum to 100%, so a filing that touches both tank pressure and airframe integration counts toward both shares.
Recorded filings rose from 2 in 2021 to 4 in 2024, a +100% increase over that span, with a peak of 10 records in 2023. Figures for 2025 and 2026 look lower, but that reflects publication lag of roughly 18 months rather than an actual slowdown, since recently filed applications have not all published yet. The safest complete-year read is through 2024, which still shows clear upward movement from the early part of the decade.
US7900434B2, assigned to Boeing and granted in 2011, covers a thermally-integrated fluid storage and pressurization system using a thermal switch to manage heat flow between a cryogenic oxygen tank and a cryogenic hydrogen tank alongside supercritical storage bottles. It is one of the more heavily cited records in this corpus, reflecting its role as an early reference point for dual-cryogen thermal and pressure management. Anyone designing a combined thermal-switch and vent-system architecture for cryogenic tanks should review its claims closely before finalizing a design.
Drone-scale cryogenic tank integration (B64U) appears on only 11.3% of the 53 records, and ground-installation boil-off recapture and automated vent valve control logic also show comparatively thin coverage relative to core tank-structure claims. These pockets are under-claimed rather than unclaimed, meaning a carefully scoped first claim there faces less crowding than in the dominant F17C pressure vessel space. That said, thin density does not guarantee an easy grant; a novelty and freedom-to-operate check against the existing 53 records is still warranted before drafting.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Liquid Hydrogen Storage for Aircraft covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company's registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.