USA Archives - eVTOL Insights

BLADE places order for up to 20 passenger-carrying eVTOL aircraft from Beta Technologies

Jason Pritchard13 April 2021

BLADE Urban Air Mobility has ordered 20 of Beta Technologies' six-seater ALIA eVTOL aircraft, in a deal which sees it become Beta's first passenger service customer - with deliveries beginning in 2024. The news follows last week's news from Beta,...

UPS to purchase 10 eVTOL aircraft from Beta Technologies, includes option to buy up to 150

Jason Pritchard9 April 2021

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Wisk sueing Archer Aviation for theft of trade secrets and patent infringement of its eVTOL aircraft designs

Jason Pritchard8 April 2021

Wisk is taking legal action against eVTOL aircraft developer Archer Aviation, alleging Archer’s business is 'built on intellectual property that is not its own' and brings claims for trade secret misappropriation and patent infringement. Ac...

Vertical Flight Society confirms group winners of its 2021 Awards, to be recognised virtually at Forum 77 event

Jason Pritchard1 April 2021

Following from its individual awards which were announced earlier this week, The Vertical Flight Society has confirmed this year's group recipients of its prestigious awards programme - paying tribute to the teams in industry, government and academi...

Former FAA acting administrator and aviation veteran Dan Elwell joins Joby Aviation’s Advisory Board

Jason Pritchard24 March 2021

Joby Aviation has appointed Dan Elwell, the former deputy and acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), to its Advisory Board. Elwell joins as the company begins to merge with Reinvent Technology Partners following its SPAC ...

Community Air Mobility Initiative adds seven new members and launches next cohort of its Urban Air Policy Collaborative

Jason Pritchard19 March 2021

The Community Air Mobility Initiative (CAMI) has welcomed seven new members and expanded the support for its mission to responsibly integrate air mobility at state and local levels. They include Arup, an independent firm of designers, planners, e...

Archer to launch urban air mobility network in Miami, with Uber Elevate co-founders joining its advisory board

Jason Pritchard10 March 2021

Archer has confirmed that Miami will be the next city in the USA where it intends to launch its urban air mobility network by 2024. The company has also announced that two of Uber Elevate co-founders - Nikhil Goel and Mark Moore - have joined its ad...

NASA’s AAM National Campaign to begin next phase of testing this month

Jason Pritchard4 March 2021

NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) National Campaign has moved to the next stage of its NC Integrated Dry Run Test, which will start this month following the completion of the first phase in December 2020. This will involve a Bell ...

Volansi to work with industry experts and enable safe drone integration into US national airspace

Jason Pritchard25 February 2021

Volansi has partnered with three of the nine participants in the Federal Aviation Administration's BEYOND program, to accelerate the integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). Regarded as a leader in a...

Joby Aviation goes public and valued at $6.6 billion following SPAC merger with Reinvent Technology Partners

Jason Pritchard24 February 2021

Joby Aviation has become the latest eVTOL aircraft developer to go public, following a joint SPAC merger with Reinvent Technology Partners - the company co-established by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffmann. The transaction - which is expected to ...

Archer commits to launching first urban air mobility network in Los Angeles by 2024

Jason Pritchard23 February 2021

Archer Aviation plans to launch its first urban air mobility network in Los Angeles by 2024, as the company looks to address some of California's mobility challenges and provide an easier way for people to travel in between dense metropolitan areas....

AECOM and Ferrovial to design vertiport infrastructure for eVTOL aircraft in Florida

Jason Pritchard22 February 2021

AECOM, one of the world’s leading infrastructure consulting firms, will work with Ferrovial to design a network of vertiports in the USA, which will connect strategic locations in some of Florida's major cities. Ferrovial is partnering with Germa...

University of California San Diego awarded $5.8 million NASA grant to accelerate rapid development of eVTOL aircraft

Jason Pritchard17 February 2021

A team of engineers from the University of California San Diego have received a University Leadership Initiative grant worth $5.8 million from NASA, to create computational design tools so US companies can increase the speed at which they can develo...

Archer goes public at a valuation of $3.8 billion; United Airlines places order for $1 billion worth of eVTOL aircraft

Jason Pritchard10 February 2021

eVTOL aircraft developer Archer has gone public in a SPAC merger deal with Atlas Crest Investment Corp, at a valuation of $3.8 billion. The deal, which sees Archer become the third eVTOL aircraft unicorn alongside Joby Aviation and Lilium, is ex...

Joby Aviation generates first revenue and takes key step towards launching first commercial passenger flights in 2024

Jason Pritchard9 February 2021

Joby Aviation is another step closer to delivering commercial passenger flights in 2024, after announcing it has generated revenue as part of achieving another major milestone in the U.S. Air Force's Agility Prime programme. The California-based ...

Elroy Air joins NASA’s AAM National Campaign to help integrate autonomous cargo aircraft into US airspace

Jason Pritchard1 February 2021

Elroy Air has become the latest company to join NASA's Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) National Campaign and will help develop key guidance for urban air mobility operations. It is currently developing the world's first end-to-end automated VTOL aeri...

Lilium and Ferrovial announce plans to create vertiport network linking major cities across Florida

Jason Pritchard27 January 2021

Lilium and infrastructure operator Ferrovial have signed a framework agreement to develop a network of at least ten vertiports covering strategic locations in all major cities across Florida. The first location in the south of the state will be anno...

Volocopter pushes forward with plans to secure FAA approval and bring its eVTOL aircraft service to US cities

Jason Pritchard18 January 2021

Volocopter is edging closer to bringing its commercial air taxi services to the USA, after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) accepted its application for concurrent Type Certificate validation. The German startup is seeking FAA approval ...

Head of Hyundai’s Urban Air Mobility Division appointed to FAA’s Drone Advisory Committee

Jason Pritchard7 January 2021

Dr Jaiwon Shin, Vice President and Head of Hyundai's Urban Air Mobility Division, has been appointed to the FAA's Drone Advisory Committee - which will help create a strategy for the safe integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the USA's...

Joby Aviation obtains first military airworthiness approval from the U.S. Air Force for its eVTOL aircraft

Jason Pritchard10 December 2020

Joby Aviation has received the first military airworthiness approval for eVTOL aircraft from the U.S. Air Force. The news was announced today (Thursday) during the fourth day of AFWERX Accelerate virtual event by Dr. Will Roper, the U.S. Air Forc...

Moonware showcases its autonomous vehicle platform, with plans for Urban Air Mobility

Jason Pritchard19 November 2020

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Southwest Research Institute in Texas receives $7.2 million contract to test AI in air taxi design project

Jason Pritchard18 November 2020

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has received a four-year contract worth more than $7.2 million from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), to develop air taxi technology and test the design capabilitie...

Wisk announces first-of-its-kind partnership with NASA to create new framework for autonomous passenger flight

Jason Pritchard16 November 2020

Wisk is teaming up with NASA to focus on the safe integration of autonomous aircraft systems into Urban Air Mobility applications at a national level, which will also include conducting flight demos. The partnership is the first of its kind and p...

World Economic Forum publishes seven key principles to help realise Urban Air Mobility in cities

Jason Pritchard18 September 2020

The World Economic Forum (WEF) and the City of Los Angeles have released a roadmap to support the roll-out of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) in cities, founded on seven key principles of implementation. They are Sustainability, Low Noise, Local Workfor...