KittyHawk Corporation To End Operations

Urban air mobility (UAM) company KittyHawk Corporation announced on Wednesday that it will be closing its doors. Founded in 2010 by Sebastian Thrun, the company was backed by Google co-founder Larry Page. KittyHawk’s designs include the Flyer ultralight, Cora autonomous air taxi and Heaviside remotely piloted electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, which was selected as a finalist for the 2019 Robert J. Collier Trophy.

“We have made the decision to wind down Kittyhawk,” the company said via Twitter. “We're still working on the details of what's next.”

An exact closing date for the company was not announced. KittyHawk’s joint venture with Boeing, Wisk, is expected to continue operations with the companies releasing their UAM operations concept laying out “the technology, regulatory and social recommendations needed to deploy Urban Air Mobility (UAM) in the United States and integrate it into the national airspace system” earlier this week. Wisk is developing the Cora air taxi, which has been flying since 2018.