The pressure on the nascent advanced air mobility industry to move forward on certification is growing, including the industry’s focus on attracting regulatory experts as new hires.
SpaceX continued its weekly launch pace with liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket on May 25 carrying 59 small satellites and hosted payloads, marking the company’s fifth rideshare mission. Following launch at 2:35 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the rocket’s first stage returned to the launch site while the upper stage fired to place the Transporter-5 payloads into a preliminary polar orbit.
U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) on May 23 introduced bipartisan legislation to help communities prepare for the eventual integration of advanced air mobility (AAM) technologies.
BAE Systems has taken delivery of and is preparing flight tests for a Pipistrel Electro Velis electric-powered light aircraft as part of an arrangement with the Slovenian manufacturer. The UK defense company announced in March that it was working with Pipistrel to examine military training applications for electric aircraft. The work is continuing after Textron’s acquisition of the light aircraft manufacturer.
Axiom Space and Italy’s minister for Technological Innovation and Digital Transition have signed a memorandum of understanding to advance existing collaboration, the Houston-based firm announced May 25.
Volocopter has signed a memorandum of understanding with fixed-based operator Jetex to deploy and operate vertiport infrastructure and services for urban air mobility.
Positive signs of collaboration and cooperation in the aerospace and defence industry have been apparent at the Global Aerospace Summit in Abu Dhabi. The event concludes tomorrow (Thursday).
French uncrewed air vehicle (UAV) manufacturer, Delair, has become a household name in Africa following a string of successful sales in the past decade.
Another lunar buggy contender is emerging, this time with an autonomous explorer angle: Lunar Outpost on May 24 unveiled a $12 million seed round, promising a new class of autonomous Moon rovers.