First Tellurium and PyroDelta Provide Update on DARPA Lift Challenge

(TheNewswire)

Vancouver, BC, Canada, July 9, 2026 TheNewswire Vancouver, BC First Tellurium Corp. (CSE: FTEL, OTC: FSTTF) and its subsidiary PyroDelta Energy Corp. have provided an update regarding participation in the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Lift Challenge.

As announced today, PyroDelta was not selected as an official entrant in this year's flight competition. However, PyroDelta remains confident in the importance and power of its technology. The company will still attend the DARPA event to demonstrate its drone design, meet with industry participants and continue discussions with potential collaborators.

"During prototype development, PyroDelta conducted real-world testing of its original 20-horsepower turbine propulsion system and determined that actual fuel consumption was higher than the manufacturer's published specifications," said First Tellurium President and CEO Tyrone Docherty. "As a result, the aircraft would have required substantially more fuel than originally anticipated."

Rather than proceed with a design that did not meet its performance objectives, the engineering team elected to redesign the aircraft around a far more powerful, custom-built, 40-horsepower piston engine. In addition to the added propulsion, PyroDelta's design also included a ground-breaking rotor design that added significantly to lift capacity. While the new system better aligned with the Company's performance goals, the change represented a significant modification to the original competition submission.

"I believe this was the reason for not being accepted," said PyroDelta Head Engineer Michael Abdelmaseh. "The purpose of engineering is to validate assumptions through testing, and our testing identified a limitation that required us to rethink the propulsion system. The redesign resulted in a much stronger and more practical platform capable of lifting well above the targeted 2:1 lift ratio. We are eager to demonstrate the new design as soon as possible and prove its effectiveness and game-changing capabilities."

"This was an engine built essentially from scratch, designed specifically to maximize the weight-to-lift ratio and mesh with PyroDelta's drone design," said Docherty. "When presented with a choice of a 20-hp motor with inaccurate fuel specifications or taking a chance on building a far better motor, we felt the decision was the obvious and correct one.  Combined with the revolutionary rotor design, we're very confident we would have performed well in the DARPA competition. We intend to prove this to the world, and do so before the competition takes place."  

PyroDelta is planning a demonstration, which will be filmed, prior to the DARPA Lift Challenge. This event will highlight the drone's ability to lift more than twice its own weight.

Further updates will be provided as they become available.

About First Tellurium Corp.

First Tellurium's unique business model is to generate revenue and value through the development of tellurium-based technologies as well as mineral discovery, project development, and project generation.

First Tellurium is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol "FTEL" and on the OTC under the symbol "FSTTF". Further information about FTEL and its projects can be found at www.firsttellurium.com.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulations services accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking information

All statements included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions made by the Company based on its experience, perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. In addition, these statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will prove inaccurate, certain of which are beyond the Company's control.  Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.  Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to revise or update these forward-looking statements after the date hereof or revise them to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated event.

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