Bell Textron has announced that its Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) flew successfully with a payload of 110 pounds, completing an 8-mile route over the company’s testing site near Fort Worth, Texas, last week. According to Bell, it plans to begin demonstrating a series of military and commercial applications for the aircraft in 2021. The company […]
SpaceX’s latest Starship prototype exploded during landing following a successful high-altitude flight test on Wednesday. The uncrewed prototype, serial number 8 (SN8), flew for 6 minutes 42 seconds, completing a series of planned maneuvers and returning to the landing pad before the crash. The test took place at SpaceX’s facility in Cameron County, Texas. “Successful […]
Most of you probably remember the heady days of the early 2000s, when every year saw the FAA’s listing of the total number of homebuilt aircraft rise by a thousand airplanes or more. Every year, excited articles were triggered when the Experimental/Amateur-Built (E/A-B) fleet size expanded. “We’ve hit 30,000 E/A-B! 32,000! 33,000!” Haven’t seen such […]
NASA has chosen 18 astronauts who will train for missions on and around the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. The Artemis Team was introduced by Vice President Mike Pence during the eighth National Space Council meeting at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday. The program aims to land the first woman and […]
California-based aerospace company Joby Aviation has announced that it will be acquiring Uber aerial ridesharing unit Elevate as part of “an expanded partnership between the two parent companies.” Uber has also agreed to invest an additional $75 million in Joby, which is developing an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) passenger aircraft, as part of […]
Uber is reportedly considering selling its urban mobility unit Elevate to raise cash. The company, known for its academically supported and deliberate approach to the whole point-to-point transportation model, has some more down-to-earth issues to deal with as the effects of the pandemic take huge chunks out of its bottom line. The company lost $3 […]
Boeing has successfully completed a series of test flights using five “high-performance surrogate jets” operating autonomously in a team. The flights, which took place over ten days, were designed to test Boeing’s advanced autonomy technology including onboard command and control and data sharing capabilities. The 3.4-meter (11-foot) test aircraft reached speeds of up to 270 […]
Urban air mobility (UAM) company EHang announced this week that its EHang 216 autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) has completed its first flight tour of South Korea. The tour included flights in Seoul, Daegu and Jeju Island, with each stop designed to demonstrate a different use case for the vehicle. The Seoul flight focused on autonomous […]
The FAA announced on Monday that it has published airworthiness criteria for the proposed certification of ten unmanned aircraft systems (UAS/drone) models. Calling the move a “a crucial step to enabling more complex drone operations,” the agency emphasized that applicants still need to demonstrate that they have met the posted requirements prior to certification. Separate […]
VerdeGo Aero and XTI Aircraft Company have announced that they will work together on XTI’s autonomous hybrid-electric TriFan 200 vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. As part of the partnership, VerdeGo will be providing its diesel-electric hybrid powertrain for the cargo-oriented TriFan 200. XTI is also developing the larger six-seat TriFan 600. “The TriFan 200 […]
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