Recent Updates

Urban air mobility (UAM) company Volocopter completed the first public test flight of its VoloDrone all-electric, heavy-lift utility drone in Hamburg, Germany, last week. The flight lasted three minutes, reaching a maximum altitude of 22 meters (72 feet) with the aircraft carrying a Euro-pallet-sized load. The test was conducted in partnership with international logistics company […]

Bell’s Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) recently reached a new milestone, demonstrating its ability to airdrop supplies. With an eye toward military resupply missions, the APT is capable of hauling two standard tactical packs and can carry a maximum payload of 100 pounds. According to Bell, the packs can be dropped at separate locations and are […]

eVTOL developer Jaunt Air Mobility has entered into an agreement to merge with the AIRO Group, the company announced at the 2021 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE). Jaunt will join current AIRO Group companies AIRO Drone, Agile Defense, Aspen Avionics, Coastal Defense, Sky-Watch and VRCO. The AIRO Group offers commercial, military, robotics, manned/unmanned […]

NASA has reassigned astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada from missions aboard Boeing’s Starliner to the SpaceX Crew-5 launch. Mann was previously assigned to NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test while Cassada was scheduled for the Starliner-1 mission. NASA noted that the change was made “to allow Boeing time to complete the development of Starliner while […]

The FAA announced on Monday that drone pilots with current Part 107 remote pilot certificates can now receive authorization to fly at night via the low altitude authorization and notification capability (LAANC) network. LAANC, an automated system designed to provide near real-time authorizations for drone pilots looking to operate below 400 feet in controlled airspace, […]

A Denver pilot says he’s successfully tested an app that can detect drones that might conflict with aircraft. Drone Traffic CEO Rick Zelenka said the test was conducted at Platte Valley Airport in Hudson, Colorado, and was the result of a NASA-funded contract to develop a drone detection system for aircraft. “It spots a drone and […]

Honda announced on Thursday that it is developing a hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The aircraft will be aimed at providing city-to-city transport, a market the company believes will grow significantly in the future. Honda also plans to create a “mobility ecosystem” that will focus on coordinating and integrating the eVTOL with ground […]

Google’s drone delivery service in Canberra, Australia, has been temporarily shut down after several of its aircraft were attacked by ravens. It’s early spring Down Under and the nesting birds are attacking the drones, which have been carrying everything from coffee to prescription drugs to customers in the nation’s capital since 2019. Google announced the […]

Boeing has announced plans to build a new facility in Illinois to manufacture MQ-25 Stingray unmanned aerial refuelers for the U.S. Navy. The 300,000-square-foot factory, which is scheduled for completion in 2024, will be located at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport (BLV). According to Boeing, the facility will feature “state-of-the-art manufacturing processes and tools, including robotic […]

Called “the world’s first all-civilian human spaceflight mission to orbit,” Inspiration4 launched successfully from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 8:02:56 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. The three-day orbital flight, which is using SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 launch vehicle, was booked by Shift4 Payments founder and pilot Jared Isaacman earlier this year. As previously reported […]