Joint development effort pairs the hydrogen-powered H2-6 UAS with Cantronic’s REDEAGLE U340 optical gas imaging payload, targeting single-flight coverage of long pipeline corridors and wide-area sites.

HOUSTON, TX -- Cellen H2, Inc. (“Cellen”) and Cantronic Systems Inc. (“Cantronic”) today announced a partnership to develop a long-endurance aerial methane detection solution for oil and gas operators. The two companies will work together to integrate Cantronic’s REDEAGLE U340 optical gas imaging (OGI) payload with Cellen’s H2-6 hydrogen fuel cell drone.

The H2-6 platform is designed for approximately 90 minutes of flight endurance, roughly three times that of a comparable battery-powered platform. Combined with the U340, which pinpoints leak location and, paired with third-party quantification software, supports leak rate estimation, the partnership is targeting single-flight coverage of long pipeline corridors and large facility areas, with defensible, site-level data rather than a simple pass/fail flag. Ground testing of the U340 is under way at Cellen’s facility in Erie, Colorado.

“Our customers inspect pipelines, well pads and large facilities where flight time is the limiting factor. Bringing the Cantronic REDEAGLE U340 onto the Cellen H2-6 will mean an operator can fly optical gas imaging surveys for up to 90 minutes on a single hydrogen quick-change cylinder, covering ground that would take multiple battery swaps on the platforms the U340 currently flies on. That is the combination our oil and gas customers have been asking for: a proven OGI sensor on a long-endurance, NDAA-compliant aircraft,” said Roberto Yelin, CEO, Cellen.

“Cantronic has spent over a decade developing optical gas imaging cameras for industrial and airborne applications. The REDEAGLE U340 has established itself as the OGI camera of choice for drone service providers working in oil and gas. Until now, those operators have flown it on platforms that limit sortie length and, increasingly, raise supply chain compliance questions for their customers. The Cellen H2-6 addresses both. Longer flights mean fewer landings and more time on station to find leaks, and a U.S.-built, NDAA-compliant airframe removes a barrier that federal and regulated operators face when selecting a drone provider,” said Ethan Moore, Director of Operations, Cantronic Systems Inc.

The timing matters for operators. In 2026, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued implementation guidance for the NSPS Subpart OOOO series that allows sites authorized under a Standard Permit or Permit by Rule to adopt an OGI-based leak detection program meeting the federal requirements in place of Method 21 surveys, without a separate Alternative Method of Control approval or permit amendment. At the same time, many operators carry voluntary commitments under frameworks such as OGMP 2.0, whose Gold Standard requires Level 4 and Level 5 reporting, in which source-level inventories are reconciled against independent site-level measurements rather than estimates. Longer OGI flights make both easier to deliver.

Source：FuelCellsWorks