Volocopter has received a first tranche of $170 million in Series E financing, with additional investment in the pipeline as the German electric vertical takeoff and landing startup works toward launching urban air taxi service in 2024.
Airworthiness regulations with which EHang must comply to type certify its EH216 autonomous air taxi have been published by the Civil Aviation Authority of China, taking the startup a step closer to launching urban air mobility services with its self-flying vehicle.
In a letter to FAA employees released by the agency, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said that he has “made the very difficult decision to step down” less than three years into his five-year appointment.
The FAA is studying the concept of a new set of operational rules and regulations dubbed automated flight rules, which will be designed to handle the huge increase in mainly low altitude air traffic anticipated with the emergence of new generation advanced air mobility vehicles.
Elbit Systems’ StarLiner medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft system has received type certification from the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel, approving the aircraft to fly in civil airspace.
Environmental regulations for aviation, such as mandates to use sustainable aviation fuel mandates and hydrogen technology certification, should be backed by an international framework set out by ICAO, a French parliamentary report says.
The operator of an FAA-designated test site for unmanned aircraft systems said the agency has authorized it to fly drones beyond an operator’s vision within a 50-mi. airspace corridor in New York State.
The U.S. aviation and telecommunications industries have deescalated—at least temporarily—their clash over an issue that threatens to further disrupt airline operations during the COVID-19 pandemic: the potential of new 5G wireless networks interfering with aircraft electronics.
AT&T and Verizon have agreed to delay deploying 5G wireless services using C-band spectrum for two weeks beyond the scheduled Jan. 5 start date, giving the FAA more time to prevent airspace system disruptions arising from the potential of interference with aircraft radio altimeters.
Behind the scenes of the aviation and telecommunications industries’ clash over 5G wireless transmissions, aviation standards organization RTCA is developing performance specifications for a new generation of radio altimeters that would be hardened against 5G interference.
Telecommunications giants AT&T and Verizon have refused a high-level U.S. government appeal to delay activating new 5G wireless networks on Jan. 5 as scheduled, offering instead to draw temporary exclusion zones around certain airports to protect against the possibility of interference with aircraft radio altimeters.
Archer, Joby and Lilium together spent almost $132 million in the third quarter on development of their electric vertical takeoff and landing air taxis.
Startup ZeroAvia has partnered with India’s Hindustan Aeronautics to develop a supplemental type certificate for its conversion of the 19-passenger Dornier 228 regional turboprop to hydrogen-electric propulsion.
U.S. House members on Nov. 4 passed a bipartisan bill in support of advanced air mobility that would establish an AAM interagency working group to review policies and make recommendations to further the technologies and infrastructure for the new transportation capability.
Germany’s MTU Aero Engines has partnered with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency to develop certification requirements for hydrogen fuel cells in aircraft.
Startup SkyDrive has become the first Japanese company to formally initiate the type certification process for an electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing vehicle.
A white paper outlining the benefits of advanced air mobility, created by a group of UK stakeholders, lays out an ambitious road map of actions required by 2025 if the country is to become a leader in the emerging market.
A central tenet of Uber’s Elevate vision for urban aerial ride sharing was that this is commercial air transport—aircraft owned by airlines and flown by professional pilots plying between vertiports.
Speaking at the AviationWeek Asia Aerospace Leadership Forum, the Executive Vice President of Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) said the country has “tremendous interest” in eVTOL development.
