Korea: Three innovative vertiport designs revealed by GS Engineering & Construction at country’s drone show

GS Engi­neer­ing & Con­struc­tion (E&C) has revealed its inno­v­a­tive ver­ti­port designs cat­e­gorised by con­struc­tion type.

In an announce­ment made dur­ing the Drone Show Korea 2024, held ear­li­er this month, the unveil­ing comes with the aim of deliv­er­ing a ver­ti­port total ser­vice and solu­tion cov­er­ing all aspects; from site acqui­si­tion to design, con­struc­tion, own­er­ship, and oper­a­tion.

Con­sid­er­ing the diverse approach­es to urban devel­op­ment, GS E&C has designed three dis­tinct types of urban air mobil­i­ty ver­ti­ports: Retro­fit, New-Build, and Mod­u­lar.

Each design is tai­lored to meet spe­cif­ic spa­tial con­straints and func­tion­al require­ments, show­cas­ing GS E&C’s com­mit­ment to deliv­er­ing inno­v­a­tive solu­tions that seam­less­ly inte­grate into diverse urban envi­ron­ments.

• Retro­fit Type

Inte­grat­ing the ver­ti­port into exist­ing urban infra­struc­ture, facil­i­ties, or sites, while main­tain­ing their orig­i­nal func­tions.

• New-Build Type

Incor­po­rat­ing a ver­ti­port into the upper lev­els of new­ly con­struct­ed build­ings with­in var­i­ous urban devel­op­ment projects.

• Mod­u­lar Type

Facil­i­tat­ing rapid assem­bly of ver­ti­port on-site in urban envi­ron­ment using stan­dard-sized base unit mod­ules, pre-fab­ri­cat­ed in a fac­to­ry.

This strate­gic move rep­re­sents GS E&C’s com­mit­ment to advanc­ing the ver­ti­port indus­try and help­ing to posi­tion itself as a key play­er in shap­ing the future of urban air mobil­i­ty (UAM).

Com­ment­ing on the unveil­ing in a press release, the com­pa­ny said: “Ver­ti­ports, along with air­craft and traf­fic man­age­ment, are essen­tial areas for cre­at­ing the UAM ecosys­tem. There­fore, we aim to secure exper­tise and com­pet­i­tive­ness in the UAM mar­ket as a ver­ti­port total solu­tion and ser­vice provider to lead future UAM infra­struc­ture busi­ness. With UAM, we embark on a new jour­ney to dri­ve more sus­tain­able urban devel­op­ment.” 

GS E&C is now par­tic­i­pat­ing in the ‘K‑UAM Grand Chal­lenge, a large-scale demon­stra­tion pro­gram led by the Kore­an Min­istry of Land, Infra­struc­ture and Trans­porta­tion (MOLIT). It is work­ing along­side LG U+, Kakao Mobil­i­ty, and Ver­ti­cal Aero­space, as part of a con­sor­tium called ‘UAM Future Team’. 

As part of the GC1 phase, the demon­stra­tion flights of the UAM Future Team are planned for Q4 2024. Click here to watch a video with more details.

To read more sto­ries by eVTOL Insights about UAM in Korea, please click here.