Category: Infrastructure

Utah and Malaysia Prepare for Flying Cars

26 February 2019 || 4 min read

Utah and Malaysia are starting to invest in Urban Air Mobility for their cities, with Utah predicting a 2023 start to the industry. Utah envisions that soon autonomous, passenger carrying aerial vehicles will populate its skies. For now, Utah is preparing for this future through partnerships with local UAV companies and entities, such as Desert UAS, which builds the economic development of...

Utah and Malaysia Prepare for Flying Cars

26 February 2019 || 4 min read

Utah and Malaysia are starting to invest in Urban Air Mobility for their cities, with Utah predicting a 2023 start to the industry.

Utah envisions that soon autonomous, passenger carrying aerial vehicles will populate its skies. For now, Utah is preparing for this future through partnerships with local UAV companies and entities, such as Desert UAS, which builds the economic development of rural lands through facilitating Utah’s UAS services. Desert is a non-profit funded partly by the Ogden City government

Jared Esselman, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT)’s Director of Aeronautics, has said: “We may see a new method of air transportation in the next five years and we are working to ensure Utah is ready for it…Industry analysts project that urban air mobility will be integrated by 2023.” Esselman explains that Utah future transportation system will include not only roads, bridges, trails, and sidewalks, but also aerial infrastructure (UAVs, software, radar, etc.) that will comprise the “highways in the sky.”

A photo of the Utah UAS test range

Malaysia meanwhile has claimed to have already made a prototype air taxi with aid from the private sector, saying that they will showcase the vehicle to the public later this year. Malaysia plans to locally source the design and production of the prototype but for help with safety issues from international consultants.

“The prototype is ready. It is up to the private sector whether they want to use it,” Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof said at a press conference on February 26th. “Malaysia has the skillset to excel in the field of aerospace, drone, UAV and the national car, and we need to use our skillset because the bottom line is we want to be a producing nation.”

Why it’s important: With Malaysia developing a UAV prototype and Utah investing in UAV infrastructure development, the UAM industry takes steps forward the world over. UAM is not just a topic on the minds of countries in Europe and the U.S, but on those of every country worldwide. With so many countries investing in the industry, indications of booming growth only continue in their prevalence.

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Source // Mashable, ChannelNewsAsia, UtahPolicy.com, Desert UAS, Ehang, and Open Access Government.

Beta Technologies Exits Stealth Mode

23 February 2019 || 3 min read

Kyle Clark, Founder of Beta Technologies, has been quietly accumulating top talent from GE, Scaled Composites, Lord/Microstrain, Aurora Flight Sciences and other companies on the cutting-edge of aviation technology to develop and test the Ava XC prototype aircraft. Until an undisclosed amount of funding was received from United Therapeutics last year, Beta had been in “stealth mode” for almost two...

Beta Technologies Exits Stealth Mode

23 February 2019 || 3 min read

Martine Rothblatt, CEO of United Therapeutics Image: UCLA Newsroom

Beta Technologies teamed with United Therapeutics, a biotechnology company founded by Martine Rothblatt, to transport organs. The company, however, has additional goals beyond just emergency response. In a recent interview, Kyle explained how Beta envisions other uses for its eVTOL aircraft, beginning with an “aircraft that can fly within the current national airspace.” Beta is poised to first have a special R&D experimental airworthiness certificate for their vehicle, and eventually shape the way FAA regulatory changes are made to accommodate eVTOLs by gaining confidence with reliable and safe flight testing, according to Clark.

Ava XC is a fixed-wing eVTOL with eight propellers on 90-degree tilting nacelles which are powered by two 124 kWh lithium-ion battery packs. At first glance, Ava XC does not look too much different than a traditional winged aircraft, but Beta Technologies’ electric propulsion and battery-storage technologies are the driving force behind the design. For more about Ava XC and a video of the prototype during transition envelope testing, visit the Hangar.

Image: VTOL Investor

What differentiates Beta Technologies from many other eVTOL OEMs is their pursuit to also install charging stations at specific locations with “solar- and grid-powered recharging pad technology”. Clark claims that the technology will provide “frequency regulation (short term power) and voltage management” and will use reclaimed aircraft batteries to cut costs and recycle materials. So far, Beta has already built a megawatt-scale recharging pad in Vermont and has plans for 50 more across the East coast for ancillary grid and recharging services.

Why it’s important: Later this year, Beta Technologies plans to debut its production aircraft, a highly anticipated milestone for the company. Kyle Clark’s experience in power electronics could bode well for Beta’s future success. Further, Beta’s investment in the development of high-performance charging infrastructure has the potential to both give the company a long-term competitive edge and advance the electric aviation industry as a whole.

Frankfurt Airport Makes Air Taxi Integration Plans

12 February 2019 || 4 min read

Frankfurt Airport is partnering with Volocopter in building the ground infrastructure and operations for electric air taxi services. Frankfurt Airport and Volocopter envision passengers using Volocopter air taxis to transition from other transportation hubs to the Frankfurt Airport, and vice Versa. The current focus is planning for smooth passenger handling on the ground and efficient integration into the existing transport...

Frankfurt Airport Makes Air Taxi Integration Plans

12 February 2019 || 4 min read

Frankfurt Airport is partnering with Volocopter in building the ground infrastructure and operations for electric air taxi services.

Frankfurt Airport and Volocopter envision passengers using Volocopter air taxis to transition from other transportation hubs to the Frankfurt Airport, and vice Versa. The current focus is planning for smooth passenger handling on the ground and efficient integration into the existing transport infrastructure. The two companies will examine these cases with the potential integration of a Volocopter Port.

With Volocopter ports, Frankfurt Airport hopes to place themselves at the forefront of modern transport. Anke Giesen, COO at Frankfurt Airport, said: “We want to be the first airport in Europe to harness the potential of electric air taxis in partnership with pioneer Volocopter – for the benefit of our passengers and the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region. This partnership underscores Fraport AG’s role as a key driver of innovation in diverse fields.”

A Volocopter 2X prototype at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2017

Volocopter has already completed successful test flights in Dubai and has also signed on with Singapore for intra-city demonstration and test flights later this year. Said Florian Reuter, CEO Volocopter GmbH:

“Providing the ideal connection between the city center and the airport poses a huge challenge for the world’s major cities. Together with Fraport AG, we are excited to pioneer the implementation of an air taxi service at one of Europe’s most important airports. We will be tapping into Fraport’s wealth of experience to integrate the Volocopter Service safely and efficiently into the complex array of processes required at a major international airport.”

Volocopter has also recently been the subject of other infrastructure integration examinations, including one by a design firm in the UK. Volcopter’s original vision for its port featured a conveyer belt system which would allow for quick storage and battery cell switching:

Why it’s important: The Frankfurt International Airport is one of the many companies the world over beginning to integrate electric air taxi services into their building designs. Others include Paramount World Center in Miami, BLADE, the VRCO landing pad in the UK, the Taskers residential development in Australia, and more. These developments indicate that building UAM infrastructure will likely be nearly as great an industry as manufacturing the vehicles themselves.

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3 steps to prevent the next Gatwick Incident

23 January 2019 || 6 min read

From 19 December to 21 December 2018, hundreds of flights were cancelled at Gatwick Airport near London, England, following 67 reports of drone sightings close to the runway. The incident negatively impacted about 140,000 passengers and disrupted over 1,000 flights during peak holiday travel. Reactions by UK police, military, and government officials exposed a lack of preparation in responding to...

3 steps to prevent the next Gatwick Incident

23 January 2019 || 6 min read

From 19 December to 21 December 2018, hundreds of flights were cancelled at Gatwick Airport near London, England, following 67 reports of drone sightings close to the runway.

The incident negatively impacted about 140,000 passengers and disrupted over 1,000 flights during peak holiday travel. Reactions by UK police, military, and government officials exposed a lack of preparation in responding to unlawful drone incursions.

All in all, a spokesperson for Gatwick Airport estimates the total cost to the airport and airlines at £20 million in lost revenue. As of writing this article, the perpetrator, or perpetrators remain at large, and another suspected drone sighting affected Heathrow Airport on 8 January.

Unfortunately, many airports, air navigation service providers (ANSPs), civil aviation authorities (CAAs) and governments around the world are not yet prepared to respond to drone incursions and are understandably worried that they could be affected by similar incidents.

Many early reactions have called for counter-UAS (unmanned aerial system) technology as the most effective solution for prevention. Of course, there is a key role for these systems in airport safety, but they are a last resort against criminals. Without the ability to remotely identify good actors from bad ones, these counter systems will be constrained as drone operations scale.

Thankfully, a lot can be done today to reduce the risks of drone incursions to a manageable level that only requires basic regulation and technology. Here are three concrete steps that airports and aviation authorities can take to keep airports safe from unwanted and/or criminal drone activity.

Step 1: Implement a registration mandate with easy-to-use technology

Airspace authorities should establish clear regulations that require all drone operators to register themselves and their aircraft along with a simple, streamlined process for doing so.

Implementing a digital registration system is relatively easy – drone operators can enter name, contact, and aircraft details on an internet-enabled device, which populates a secured registration server, that also attest identities and authenticate users. Access to registration data is managed by authorized personnel, with appropriate personally identifiable information (PII) protections in place.

Mandatory registration can also require that a drone operator self identify in order to get authorized access to fly in controlled airspace near airports. Registered operators are responsible actors who have demonstrated intent to operate in compliance with regulations.

Step 2: Enforce civil aviation regulations with a UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system

Popular drone manufacturers already implement geofencing options, and firmware updates to meet national airspace regulations. In practice, geofencing prevents a drone from flying in restricted, controlled and other unsafe airspace, which helps ward against illegal drone operations by careless and clueless operators.

Geofencing can be “unlocked” for authorized drone operators, such as airport maintenance staff or law enforcement operators, by connecting to an Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) system with services and procedures designed to support safe, efficient and secure access to airspace for drones. These services include registration, flight planning, geofencing, airspace authorization, conformance monitoring, telemetry, deconfliction, and remote identification, among others.

The right UTM system analyzes operator details, flight path information, real-time air traffic positions, and more, to enable airspace authorities to grant permission-based access to drone operators in controlled airspace, either manually or programmatically as already implemented by the Federal Aviation Administration Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (FAA LAANC) programme. The result is enablement of safe drone operations while controlling against non-compliant or illegal activity.

With all “good actors” participating in the UTM system, aviation authorities can visualize, monitor, and track real-time manned and unmanned aircraft telemetry for deconfliction. Participating drone operators can be remotely identified by their aircraft, flight path, and/or registration details and can be contacted directly for risk mitigation.

Step 3: Combine UTM with counter-UAS system for a complete picture of an airspace operating environment

Intentional bad actors that are not registered are not included in the UTM system and do not follow the appropriate authorization procedures to access controlled airspace. These illegal operators may also hack their drones, unlocking geofencing, or spoofing their location.

In these instances, the integration of counter-UAS (C-UAS) technology into the UTM system provides the ability to identify all aircraft movements within the controlled airspace. Information related to any aircraft detected by C-UAS is exchanged with the UTM system and remotely identified as either collaborative (registered) or non-collaborative, requiring intervention.

Much of the reaction to the Gatwick incident has centered on counter-UAS technology as the answer to all illegal drone operations. But as drone operations near airports scale with enterprise demand, C-UAS alone will not be sufficient in determining whether a drone operation requires intervention because not all drone operations at airports are unlawful. Detection must be coupled with UTM intelligence to adequately inform, and ensure the safety and smooth operations of all airports.

Written by Ben Marcus, Chairman and co-founder of AirMap.

This story first appeared on the World Economic Forum Agenda Blog.

FAA Testing Unmanned Aircraft Traffic Management System

20 January 2019 || 3 min read

In Grand Forks, North Dakota, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is testing an Unmanned Traffic Management airspace system that will lead to delivery drones and eventually to passenger drones. Although testing at the Northern Plains site in North Dakota is primarily focused on smaller aircraft flying under 400ft (such as drones), Director of Research and Development Chris Thielen has acknowledged the eventual need...

FAA Testing Unmanned Aircraft Traffic Management System

20 January 2019 || 3 min read

In Grand Forks, North Dakota, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is testing an Unmanned Traffic Management airspace system that will lead to delivery drones and eventually to passenger drones.

Although testing at the Northern Plains site in North Dakota is primarily focused on smaller aircraft flying under 400ft (such as drones), Director of Research and Development Chris Thielen has acknowledged the eventual need to expand to testing of larger aircraft at higher altitudes.

The testing at Nothern Planes is part of NASA and the FAA’s development of an Unmanned Aircraft System Management System. The ultimate goal of this research is to “identify airspace operations requirements to enable safe visual and beyond visual line-of-sight drone flights in low-altitude airspace.” This includes requirements for software, information sharing, performance and more.

Companies like Amazon, Uber (for UberEats,) Google, and more have already expressed plans to developed on-demand drone delivery, while Boeing has already co-founded SkyGrid alongside AI firm SparkCognition.

UAS Research being conducted Northern Plains UAS Test Site in North Dakota

Many of the concerns that exist regarding UAS (unmanned aerial systems) have also been expressed about eventual passenger drones/Urban Air Mobility (UAM). At a House Aviation Subcommittee UAS Hearing, these were named as the following:

Safety
- Drones and UAM vehicles will fly at lower altitudes than traditional aircraft
- Drones and UAM vehicles will land in places other than airports
Noise & Privacy
- Drones and UAM aircraft have the potential to disturb ‘tranquil areas’
- Drones and UAM aircraft could gather detailed information about private property.

The potential future of Urban Airspace as illustrated by NASA.

Ideally, regulatory decisions for UAS systems being developed at Northern Plains will pave the way for standards required of larger autonomous passenger aircraft. Already, most Urban Aviation companies like Uber, EHANG, Lilium, Volocopter, VRCO, and Vertical Aerospace, and more are planning on eventually rolling out autonomous air taxis services.

Illustration of a potential Uber Elevate ‘Skyport’

Why it’s important: With continual progress being made on Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) research and regulation by NASA and the FAA, the regulatory groundwork is also being laid for passenger vehicles with eventual autonomy. Testing plans are currently scheduled to run through 2020.

Elon Musk and Flying Cars

15 January 2019 || 4 min read

While in the Elon Musk has past expressed opposition the idea of Urban Air Mobility, his recent actions may suggest a possible change of heart. In a 2017 Tweet, Musk brought up the possibility that the optional rocket tech package for the future Roadster will allow it to ‘fly short hops‘. According to Musk, “the SpaceX option package for new Tesla...

Elon Musk and Flying Cars

15 January 2019 || 4 min read

While in the Elon Musk has past expressed opposition the idea of Urban Air Mobility, his recent actions may suggest a possible change of heart.

In a 2017 Tweet, Musk brought up the possibility that the optional rocket tech package for the future Roadster will allow it to ‘fly short hops‘. According to Musk, “the SpaceX option package for new Tesla Roadster will include ~10 small rocket thrusters arranged seamlessly around (the) car…Rocket tech applied to a car opens up revolutionary possibilities.”

Most recently, his suggestions of a flying Tesla Roadster have been growing stronger. Just last week he tweeted the following:

The new Roadster will actually do something like this https://t.co/fIsTAYa4x8

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 9, 2019

With this post, he mentioned claimed that the Tesla “will use SpaceX cold gas thruster system with ultra high-pressure air in a composite over-wrapped pressure vessel in place of the 2 rear seats.”

At a TED Talk in 2017, Musk strongly opposed flying cars, with the premise that UAM vehicles are noisy, produce wind pollution, and will cause anxiety for people living beneath them. But in a recent note to clients this December, he mentioned, “Tesla has expertise in batteries, AI software, complete vehicle engineering, charging infrastructure and material science that we believe may have transferability to the autonomous aircraft domain”.

Although the jury is still out on which direction Musk will take with flying vehicles, he has continued to work on the ‘The Boring Company’, which plans to build large series of car-moving tunnels under urban areas to eliminate traffic. You can learn more about the Boring Company idea in Musk’s 2017 TED Talk, where he discusses the Boring Company in depth and explains he’s chosen the underground tunneling solution rather the skies. The Boring Company’s FAQ’s page also mentions the reasoning behind this choice.

The Boring Company and Uber Elevate plan to launch in Los Angeles within five years.Why it’s important:
While Musk has expressed opposition to the UAM solutions in the past, it’s possible that his interest in flying vehicles (as expressed by the potential flying capabilities of the upcoming Tesla Roadster) may lead him to make contributions to the autonomous air vehicle space with Tesla and SpaceX’s AI, battery, and vehicle engineering tech. Although Uber Elevate and Musk’s Boring Company are in competition for eliminating congestion, Musk may decide to contribute to a future that is both in the skies as well as under the earth.

Western Sydney Airport May Include Provisions for UAM

29 December 2018 || 3 min read

The construction of Western Sydney Airport (WSA) began on September 24, 2018. The project in Badgerys Creek, Australia will be designed with 21st-century thinking in mind and will be completed by 2026. It shall have infrastructure to support various modes of transportation to get to and from the airport, with ride-sharing services as a primary option. Further, Western Sydney Airport will...

Western Sydney Airport May Include Provisions for UAM

29 December 2018 || 3 min read

Further, Western Sydney Airport will be constructed on a 1800-hectare plot of land, allowing for plenty of space for disruptive technologies, such as urban air mobility aircraft flights. WSA Chief Executive Officer Graham Millet is a strong advocate for the airport as a testbed for passenger and freight drones, as demonstrated by integrating this forethought into the planning of the new airport.

While the Australian city in which Uber Air’s aerial ride-sharing network will be stood up has not yet been determined, Western Sydney Airport has now made a case for Sydney as the host city. Uber has articulated that the ideal cities are those with high population density and heavy traffic, particularly to a big airport.

Similar to Singapore’s word-class Changi Airport, Millet aims for WSA to be a destination not just for travelers. It will host art exhibitions, gymnasiums, shops, and other attractions, all while keeping operational costs low and ground transport traffic as light as possible. Millet has also already reached out to Uber in hope to ignite discussions between the two regarding drone operations in Australia.

The Australian federal government is allocating approximately $5.3 billion to the Western Sydney Airport, and it is possible that a portion of the budget can be seen going toward sky ports. This is the first outspoken plan for an airport to plan a preemptive integration of drone air mobility operations and could subsequently jumpstart future worldwide efforts.

Image Source // Uber Air

Why its important: Western Sydney Airport sets a precedent as the first airport to plan for infrastructure to support passenger and freight drones – such as Uber Elevate sky ports – in an attempt to alleviate ground transport and jumpstart air mobility operations in Australia.

A VRCO NeoXCraft Home Landing Pad is Being Built in the UK

19 December 2018 || 4 min read

A VRCO NeoXCraft Home Landing Pad is Being Built in the UK

19 December 2018 || 4 min read

A landing pad for the VRCO NeoXcraft is being built in the garden of a $12.5 million home in the UK. VRCO has released a set of images showing the planned landing area, which comes with a renewable energy recharging system for the two-seater aircraft. VRCO is based in Derby, UK, and has been developing the NEOXCraft since its founding in 2015. The NeoXCraft is one of the top aircraft soon to enter the UK eVTOL market with a planned first flight in 2019 and an intended certification date of 2020.

VRCO has recently made large strides in their development process by partnering with property developer Guy Phoenix to develop a landing pad for a new home in the village of Edwalton. The landing pad is six meters in diameter, and will reach completion in April. Key to the landing pad is an integrated solar and wind system to recharge the vehicle, and an ‘etched data store code’ which will allow the aircraft to land autonomously.

Real estate developer Guy Phoenix is considering purchasing a VRCO NeoXCraft to to offer as part of the sale of the Nottingham home. A mockup of the aircraft will be at the house’s launch event this spring.

The addition of the landing pad to this house represents the beginning of a major shift in how real estate will work with flying cars. By eVTOL, the home is only 30 minutes from London, while normally a 2.5 hour drive. Many experts in the industry have predicted that the existence of eVTOL services will eventually raise the appeal of living further away from major cities, as they will allow people to live in less populate areas and still commute to work in cities quickly.

The VRCO NeoXCraft would turn a 2.5 hour drive into a 30 minute commute

Said VRCO CEO Dan Hayes, “The house itself has been built to a level rarely seen in construction in both design, finish and technology, so together the Guy Phoenix brand delivering luxury homes and the VRCO brand soon to deliver the future, I am sure will work well together.”

To learn more about the specifications and features of the VRCO NeoXCraft, have a look our NeoXCraft Vehicle Page.

Why its important: This home in Nottingham is one of the first in the world to build a private landing pad for an eVTOL. With VRCO’s expected certification date in 2020, the occupant of this home could be one of the first in the world to own and actively use a private eVTOL.

Morgan Stanley Predicts $1.5 Trillion market for Urban Aviation by 2040

10 December 2018 || 3 min read

Morgan Stanley has conducted an in-depth analysis of the potential market for eVTOL air taxis, concluding that by 2040 the market may be worth over $1.5 trillion. The report by Morgan Stanley was a full 85 pages. It pulled its information from many of the companies working on UAM solutions include Boeing and Uber, as well as from NASA’s Urban...

Morgan Stanley Predicts $1.5 Trillion market for Urban Aviation by 2040

10 December 2018 || 3 min read

Morgan Stanley has conducted an in-depth analysis of the potential market for eVTOL air taxis, concluding that by 2040 the market may be worth over $1.5 trillion.

The report by Morgan Stanley was a full 85 pages. It pulled its information from many of the companies working on UAM solutions include Boeing and Uber, as well as from NASA’s Urban Air Mobility Industry day last month.

The study included an evaluation of both drone courrier services and passenger eVTOL services, predicting that $851 billion of that $1.5 Trillion total market will be taken up by passenger vehicles.

Morgan Stanley Report on Uber Aviation mentions important companies

Aircraft concepts from Aurora Flight Sciences (top left),Larry Page’s ‘Kittyhawk’ (top right), Airbus (bottom left). and Uber (bottom right)

“We see the market beginning as an ultra-niche add-on to existing transportation infrastructure, similar to how helicopters operate today,” the analysts said. “It eventually transforms into a cost-effective, time-efficient method of traveling short to medium distances, eventually taking share from car and airline companies.”–Morgan Stanley report on Urban Aviation

Morgan Stanley names the top challenges to developing Urban Aviation as providing for the rigorous safety standards required for autonomous aircraft, meeting energy density needs in batteries, and minimizing noise emissions.

It also names a “Flying Car 50” list of the top 50 companies it believes will lead the UAM transformation. These include new flying car developers, large aviation companies like Boeing & Aurora Flight Sciences, Tech companies like Garmin, and even insurance providers like Progressive. It also mentions companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and more. For a list of the top eVTOL vehicles and developers in the market, check out our Hangar page.

Morgan Stanley Urban Aviation report mentions AI air traffic management

A concept of what AI-managed urban airspace may look like.

The study also included a $413 billion evaluation for freight transportation, with $12 billion coming from military and defense applications, as well as another $198 billion for enabling technologies and services, ranging from batteries to autonomous control software.

Why its important: Morgan Stanley is a long-time expert on market analysis, giving further validity and proof of an enormous upcoming UAM market. It’s prediction for the greatest obstacles for the UAM industry, including regulatory and safety hurdles, battery tech, and noise emission may well provide guidance for the industry, encouraging players to focus on overcoming these hurdles as quickly as possible.

UK Invests Over £100Million in VTOL Research Initiative

07 December 2018 || 3 min read

The UK’s latest move for Urban Aviation is a £125 million ($160 million) commitment to aviation companies developing autonomous and electric aircraft. With this new government-Industry Aerospace Sector Deal, the UK government hopes to develop the”next generation of electric planes, drones and autonomous aircraft by 2025″. The UK Government’s latest press release states that a major part of what the UK...

UK Invests Over £100Million in VTOL Research Initiative

07 December 2018 || 3 min read

The UK’s latest move for Urban Aviation is a £125 million ($160 million) commitment to aviation companies developing autonomous and electric aircraft.

The Aston Martin ‘Volante Vision’ concept

With this new government-Industry Aerospace Sector Deal, the UK government hopes to develop the”next generation of electric planes, drones and autonomous aircraft by 2025″.

The UK Government’s latest press release states that a major part of what the UK is calling the “Future Flight Challenge” focuses on “exploiting the global potential of new urban mobility solutions and pioneer autonomous aviation.” With the Future Flight Challenge, the UK is also seeking to help fund companies investigating how autonomous and electric vertical aircraft can “transform the future of transportation in urban areas” in order to ease automotive traffic congestion.

UK-based company Vertical Aerospace’s prototype, which maid its maiden flight earlier this year

The overall goal of the R&D funding is enable UK-based companies to create aircraft that are quieter, safer, and more efficient. With the initiative, the UK hopes to put itself at the forefront of the green aviation industry.

The UK government mentions that initially the Future Flight Challenge will focus on smaller aircraft such as drones and those used for urban air mobility, and will eventually scale to include larger passenger aircraft as well. Throughout history, the UK has been responsible for many aviation advancements including the creation of the Jet Engine, and mass production of Aircraft and Aircraft Engines (through Airbus and Rolls-Royce). With the new Sector Deal, the UK hopes to continue this trend.

“The UK is a global leader in aviation innovation. From urban air mobility vehicles to small electric aircraft and drones, we are already developing exciting new forms of transport” –Baroness Sugg, UK Minister of Aviation

Why it’s important: The UK’s latest commitment to developing autonomous, electric, and efficient aviation technologies both at the UAM scale and at the traditional aviation scale represents yet another country getting on board for a UAM future. With the development of ‘Future Air Mobility Grand Challenge’, the UK joins NASA, Japan, and many others in the race for bringing UAM technologies to market.

NASA completes first steps in Urban Air Mobility Grand Challenge

30 November 2018 || 3 min read

NASA’s Urban Air Mobility Grand Challenge is part of a growing movement within the aviation community to develop a future urban air transport system. Here’s one artist’s rendition of how a future urban airspace might look. NASA is assessing responses to an initial Request for Information (RFI) as the first step in kicking off its Grand Challenge. Responses were due...

NASA completes first steps in Urban Air Mobility Grand Challenge

30 November 2018 || 3 min read

Urban Air Transport concept from NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) website

NASA is assessing responses to an initial Request for Information (RFI) as the first step in kicking off its Grand Challenge. Responses were due November 16, 2018 and served to get a better idea of what organizations are interested in participating. Participants might include air vehicle developers, air traffic management system developers, the FAA, and others. Certain consulting firms, like Booz Allen Hamilton, have already started working through select scenarios.

Booz Allen Hamilton consulting Urban Air Mobility Grand Challenges

Booz Allen Hamilton is a Fortune 500 consulting firm headquartered in Virginia

The RFI document, released by NASA one month earlier, stated “each participant will each be challenged to complete a series of common safety and integration scenarios”. The actual scenarios will be released after NASA finishes assessing potential participants.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilot’s Association (AOPA) has expressed interest in getting involved with the Grand Challenges. A briefing published by the AOPA declared Senior Director of Airspace, Air Traffic, and Aviation Security Rune Duke wrote to NASA, reminding them that for the Grand Challenges program, “collaboration with other airspace stakeholders will be key to success.” AOPA has repeatedly shown interest in tackling metropolitan air transport challenges. They recently published this video from the National Business Aviation conference in Orlando, Oct 2018.

Why it’s Important:

The Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Grand Challenge is a multi-phase program that will, over the course of several years, identify and address the key challenges associated with accessible air transport systems in metropolitan areas. The first phase, named GC-1, will kick off the program by promoting UAM and building the public’s confidence in its safety. NASA plans to sponsor community learning and a possible flight demonstration as part of this mission.

UK Architecture Firm Unveils Vertiport Design

26 November 2018 || 4 min read

A UK design consultancy firm called ‘small’, (Six Miles Across London Ltd.) recently showed the world its latest concept for a vertiport, designed specifically for the Volocopter, which will be conducting tests in Singapore in 2019. The vertiport has a modular design that allows its exterior to fitted with lounge and seating areas, repair and spare battery storage areas, and...

UK Architecture Firm Unveils Vertiport Design

26 November 2018 || 4 min read

The vertiport has a modular design that allows its exterior to fitted with lounge and seating areas, repair and spare battery storage areas, and even small dining and retail facilitates. The idea of the vertiport is essentially provide a small-scale airport.

The main creator, Small (Six Miles Across London Ltd.), is led by founder Ricky Sandhu, who has over 15 years of experience at Foster and Partners, an expert in Architectural Design and Engineering. Small was born out of the project ‘six miles across london’; a manifesto that reimagined Sandhu’s journey from home to work.

Sandhu envisions that his vertiports will take visitors between major metropolitan areas and the nearest large scale airports. As he states, this would be about a 30 minute journey in places like San Francisco or New York, which is about the range of many eVTOLs currently in development.

“This form of urban air mobility has to complement the large mobility hubs. It doesn’t replace them – it’s the missing link”-Ricky Sandhu.

The vertiport was designed in collaboration with Arup, a firm responsible for over one hundred airport designs. Arup also made a concept design for Uber Elevate, as featured below.

Arup’s design for the Uber Elevate vertiport

This comes at a time when other companies have been working on a myriad of vertiport designs. One of one these is Paramount’s Miami World Center, who’s project lead hopes to cut down on commute time for residents.

Paramount Miami Wordcenter’s rooftop vertiport design

Uber Elevate also recently held a competition for vertiport designs, some of the particpants of which are featured here:

Why it’s important: The evolving development of infrastructure for eVTOLs show that the future air taxi services is becoming more and more certain. Major industries are beginning to prepare for the integration of air taxis. These designs by major firms increase the public awareness of air taxis, which will lead to public assuredness sooner rather than later later.

Boeing and SparkCognition Launch SkyGrid for AI Route Planning

22 November 2018 || 5 min read

SkyGrid is a new company jointly founded by Boeing and SparkCognition to build AI-powered software for managing airspace with autonomous vehicles. SkyGrid’s purpose is to integrate all urban airspace traffic including cargo and passenger air vehicles as well as package delivery drones. According to its website, “SkyGrid is the world’s first artificial intelligence and blockchain-powered aerial operating system for next-generation...

Boeing and SparkCognition Launch SkyGrid for AI Route Planning

22 November 2018 || 5 min read

SkyGrid is a new company jointly founded by Boeing and SparkCognition to build AI-powered software for managing airspace with autonomous vehicles.

SkyGrid’s purpose is to integrate all urban airspace traffic including cargo and passenger air vehicles as well as package delivery drones.

According to its website, “SkyGrid is the world’s first artificial intelligence and blockchain-powered aerial operating system for next-generation travel and transport that will ensure safe integration of autonomous air vehicles.”

The SkyGrid program will enable the future of urban air mobility by providing a smart, safe, secure way for air vehicles to travel. One of SkyGrid’s greatest advantages is that it will offer AI-enabled route identification. Simply put, SkyGrid is an automated air traffic controller for autonomous vehicles in urban areas.

SkyGrid works through the power of machine learning, using big data to efficiently and safely manage aircraft routes. The system will takes into account current air traffic in the area, weather, vehicle diagnostics, and in-flight route modification when assigning routes. Eventually, SkyGrid’s goal is to provide autonomous navigation directly to vehicles.

SkyGrid plans to work with the FAA and NASA regulations to eventually achieve automated flight plan approval. Boeing is partnered with Uber Elevate, both of which have been in extensive talks with NASA and the FAA. NASA is also holding a series of Urban Air Mobility Grand Challenges that will give companies like SkyGrid a chance to prove the safety of their technology and provide a framework for regulation. The first of these challenges will be in 2020.

NASA artwork for what the future of urban air mobility may look like

It’s unclear yet whether SkyGrid will only be available for autonomous vehicles, or will be used for route guidance in piloted aircraft as well. Since autonomy is likely to come later than piloted aircraft (as stated by many vehicle developers), it would make sense for Boeing to develop a version of SkyGrid that works for those initial piloted vehicles. Boeing has yet declined to state who their exact customers will be, but has stated that it is already working with several partners on many potential use cases.

The announcement of the SkyGrid venture comes four months after Boeing and SparkCognition announced their partnership in July of 2018 with the intent of creating the digital UTM system. At that time, SparkCognition CEO Amir Husai commented:

“Estimated by some analysts at $3 trillion, the urban aerial mobility opportunity will lead to the creation of the largest new market in our lifetimes.”

Husai will now also serve as the CEO of SkyGrid. He states:

“By offering scalable and robust capabilities in a single, integrated framework, SkyGrid will make large-scale air vehicle applications more practical and accessible.”

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg put out this tweet:

Excited to partner with @SparkCognition on @SkyGridAI… having the right digital infrastructure is key to achieving safe and reliable urban air mobility. https://t.co/HhzchsBEYm

— Dennis A. Muilenburg (@BoeingCEO) November 20, 2018

Why it’s important: The effective development of UTM systems is vital to a future of autonomous urban air mobility aircraft. While systems like SkyGrid and Airmap are made for autonomous operations and currently focus on drones, their development marks the first step towards safe autonomous passenger aircraft. It’s likely that UTM systems will scale from unmanned drone management to route guidance for piloted aircraft, and then eventually to autonomous passenger vehicles.

Amazon Adding Helipads to its New Headquarters in New York

19 November 2018 || 4 min read

Although Amazon hasn’t named these planned helipads as vertiports, the planned Helipads for the HQ2 buildings would work well for eVTOL transport. Jeff Bezos, as many know, has many ambitions and is extremely forward thinking. He’s not only the founder and CEO of Amazon, but is also the founder of commercial space travel company Blue Origin. As Amazon has continued...

Amazon Adding Helipads to its New Headquarters in New York

19 November 2018 || 4 min read

Although Amazon hasn’t named these planned helipads as vertiports, the planned Helipads for the HQ2 buildings would work well for eVTOL transport.

Jeff Bezos, as many know, has many ambitions and is extremely forward thinking. He’s not only the founder and CEO of Amazon, but is also the founder of commercial space travel company Blue Origin. As Amazon has continued to grow, it’s constantly looking to the future.

Jeff Bezos at the Air Force Association Air, Space And Cyber Conference

The new Amazon ‘HQ2′ buildings will be strategically placed on the East River in New York, and close to the Potomoc in Northern Virginia. Although amazon has declined to comment on the reasoning of this choice, the buildings’ proximity to these waterway will give them access to the rivers’ flight corridors. This means that Amazon wouldn’t have to wait until regulation allows eVTOLs to fly over buildings in order to begin operations to places like JFK, LaGuardia, or Newark Airport.

Designing vertiports for buildings is no easy task. According to Blade CEO Rob Wiesenthal (in an interview with Forbes), there’s no way to easily retrofit vertiports onto buildings. This means that anyone developing real estate now should consider laying the groundworks for the transportation networks of the future. Already, Landing pad plans have been made by real estate companies like Paramount in Miami, which envision cutting commutes down for their residents.

Amazon HQ2 and others plan on helipads/vertiports

A concept of Paramount’s upcoming vertiport for the roof of it’s ‘Miami World Center’

Blade, an on-demand helicopter taxi service in Los Angeles, New York, and Miami, has already raised $38 million from Airbus and real estate investment firm Colony to develop vertiports in various cities. According to CEO Wiesenthal, there’s several buildings in New York that are already adding capabilities for their buildings to include landing pads, including real estate company Vornado’s redevelopment of its properties across from Manhattan’s Penn Station. According to Wiesenthal, these buildings “basically have hidden skyports”.

Blade, like future Amazon HQ2, has helicopters in New York

The Blade helicopter taxi service services even a 2-minute flight east to west across Manhattan.

One other luxury VTOL developer in New York is Transcend Air, which plans on releasing its air taxi service in New York and other cities by 2024. In an interview with Forbes, Transcend Air CEO commented, “Jeff Bezos has his own spacecraft company—of course he’s thinking about the future of aerospace and transportation”.

The Transcend Air VTOL, an inter-city luxury air taxi service set to launch by 2024.

Why its important: Announcements by real estate companies of vertiport plans are becoming more prevalent. Since real estate projects can often take a long time, it’s vital that any developers wanting to be the first to support urban air taxi transport start their projects now. The fact developers are willing to commit an urban air mobility future by investing in these projects gives even more validity to a future of urban aviation.

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg’s Vision for Aerospace Traffic Management

30 October 2018 || 3 min read

CEO of Boeing Dennis Muilenberg recently spoke at the Geekwire Summit early this October. His main point was this: The definition of ‘airplane’ is broadening quickly, and the new range of vehicles about to entire our airspace will require and entirely new eco-system. Muilenburg spoke extensively about air taxi systems, focusing on big picture idea that one day soon, there...

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg’s Vision for Aerospace Traffic Management

30 October 2018 || 3 min read

Muilenburg spoke extensively about air taxi systems, focusing on big picture idea that one day soon, there will be an entirely new and highly extended range of vehicles in our skies.

He mentioned that this ecosystem will include everything from urban air mobility solutions to hypersonic aircraft to even commercial spacecraft. Boeing plans on working on all components of this ecosystem to develop a full aerospace traffic management system.

“That all needs an integrated traffic system. That’s part of what we’re working on with NASA and the FAA”

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg during a fireside chat at the GeekWire Summit in Seattle. (Photo by Dan DeLong for GeekWire)

Muilenberg’s attendance at the GeekWire came with announcements that Boeing’s air taxi prototype will be ready to fly in 2019. As a reminder, Boeing has partnered with Aurora Fight Sciences to this end.

A vision of what the final Boeing Air Taxi may look like

“Think about a future in which you will have three-dimensional highways to relieve traffic congestion,” said said Muilenberg in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Seattle. He also stated expectation that initial operations of these air taxi systems will begin within five years.

Why it’s important: As the world of urban air mobility develops, every service provider will require its own airspace traffic management system. However, these systems all have to be integrated into one overall airspace management system so that all vehicles in the sky may co-ordinate with each other. Boeing is currently working with NASA and the FAA to develop this system.

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Category: Infrastructure

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NASA completes first steps in Urban Air Mobility Grand Challenge

NASA completes first steps in Urban Air Mobility Grand Challenge

UK Architecture Firm Unveils Vertiport Design

UK Architecture Firm Unveils Vertiport Design

Boeing and SparkCognition Launch SkyGrid for AI Route Planning

Boeing and SparkCognition Launch SkyGrid for AI Route Planning

“Estimated by some analysts at $3 trillion, the urban aerial mobility opportunity will lead to the creation of the largest new market in our lifetimes.”

“By offering scalable and robust capabilities in a single, integrated framework, SkyGrid will make large-scale air vehicle applications more practical and accessible.”

Amazon Adding Helipads to its New Headquarters in New York

Amazon Adding Helipads to its New Headquarters in New York

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg’s Vision for Aerospace Traffic Management

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg’s Vision for Aerospace Traffic Management

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“Estimated by some analysts at $3 trillion, the urban aerial mobility opportunity will lead to the creation of the largest new market in our lifetimes.”

“By offering scalable and robust capabilities in a single, integrated framework, SkyGrid will make large-scale air vehicle applications more practical and accessible.”

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