Xeriant, a three-year-old aerospace holding company that includes the Halo concept for an electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) taxi, is preparing to offer more public shares to raise funds for acquisitions and other endeavors.
A microphone capable of detecting potentially hazardous clear-air turbulence at long range has been test flown on a balloon-launched unmanned stratospheric glider.
A design tool enabling power trains for electric aircraft to be modeled and optimized early in design has been released by startup LaunchPoint Electric Propulsion Systems.
Drone manufacturer Flytrex, whose hexacopter delivers food and retail payloads up to 6.6 lb. to a distance of 3 1/2 mi. and back, on March 17 announced an $8 million financing round led by existing investors Benhamou Global Ventures and btov.
U.S.-based OneSky and Australian company Nova Systems completed trials in March of a proposed system for managing low-altitude drone traffic in Singapore.
Nineteen months after they predicted UAM would be a niche market, Aviation Week’s Graham Warwick and Teal Group’s Richard Aboulafia are back to address why investors are now pouring billions of dollars into the emerging sector.
“Where’s my flying car?” may be the popular lament of disappointed futurists, but “Where’s the market?” is the more important question for startups trying to make roadable aircraft a reality. AeroMobil is targeting the exclusive clientele of supercar enthusiasts with its first product, the two-seat AeroMobil 4.0. But now the Slovakian startup is eyeing ride-hailing as a route to expanding the market.
Startup Reliable Robotics has remotely piloted a Cessna 208B Caravan from a ground station 50 mi. away, a key step toward certifying an autonomy retrofit for the aircraft that will enable unmanned regional cargo operations.
Archer has committed to launching an urban air mobility network in Miami by 2024 which will see Southern Florida join Los Angeles as a flagship market for the startup’s planned air taxi services.
Startup Jump Aero is to study the use of an electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing vehicle to calibrate navigation aids, as an alternative to a costly fixed-wing platform.
German urban air mobility startup Volocopter has raised €200 million ($241 million) to complete development and launch services with its Volocopter electric air taxi.
Flint Hills Solutions has partnered with UAV Navigation to integrate their joint technologies into the FH-900 Series autonomous Vertical Takeoff and Landing Unmanned Aerial System helicopter.
The European arm of General Atomics is studying adapting the Dornier 228 twin-turboprop into an unmanned cargo aircraft. The company says an unmanned Dornier 228 could open up new prospects for growth for the platform, following its purchase of the rights to produce the aircraft from Switzerland’s RUAG International.
