The startup did not identify the operator or its market sector, but the 40-aircraft order, plus an option for another 40, is “committed and in hand,” XTI CEO Bob LaBelle said.
Textron will not immediately enter the urban air mobility market, despite its “enormous amount of technological capability,” as the battery technology has not advanced enough to support it, Textron’s top executive says.
Tim Conver, who took over the then-spunky UAV pioneer AeroVironment in the early 1990s, will retire as chairman at the company’s 2021 annual shareholder meeting.
Startup Aergility is working with an unidentified strategic partner to develop a vertical-takeoff unmanned cargo aircraft using its “managed autorotation” technology to increase range and payload.
As it seeks strategic investors to set up operations in Canada, Jaunt Air Mobility has added to the list of suppliers working on the startup’s Journey electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing air taxi.
British parcel carrier Royal Mail is to fly uncrewed mail flights between the UK mainland and the Scilly Isles and perform interisland deliveries with a vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aircraft system to test technologies that could better link remote communities.
Miami International Airport on May 6 announced its selection by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to serve as a test site for drone detection technologies.
China’s Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group (CAIG) has signed a project agreement with Zigong Municipal People’s Government to build a dedicated unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industrial park in the city that will eventually see an annual output of 100 medium to large drones.
Flight testing of the Beta Technologies’ Alia for the U.S. Air Force has begun after the electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft received airworthiness approval under the service’s Agility Prime program.
As aircraft and propulsion developers look to electrical systems operating at kilovolt levels, Safran has teamed with a pyrotechnics specialist to develop an ultrafast method of shutting down high-power networks before electric arcing can cause potentially catastrophic damage.
The UK has brought into force new regulations to improve airspace usage and clamp down on the illegal use of UAVs that can menace air traffic. The new legislation also gives the transport secretary temporary powers to waive the current 80-20 slot rule.
Kenya Airways has signed an MOU with advanced air mobility (AAM) company Skyports to collaborate on launching permanent unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations in the East African country.
Through targeted technology investments, regional air mobility can offer early benefits for communities, industry and investors, a new NASA white paper has concluded.
Robotic Skies, which is building a maintenance service network for commercial and industrial drones, has received an investment from Japan-based Drone Fund.
Electric aircraft propulsion will lead to the creation of electric low-cost carriers—eLCCs—flying sub-regional routes that are not economically viable for hydrocarbon-powered aircraft, proposes a report released by UK trade association ADS Group.
