The last week has been a busy week for this topic, especially in the UK. Starting with the opening of “Air-One®”, a world-first demonstration of a fully-operational hub for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles – such as air taxis – and autonomous cargo drones, heralding a new age of zero-emission, low-congestion urban transport.
Urban-Air Port, Supernal and the UK Government have backed this program, which will remain open for visitors for a minimum of one month. The goal is to provide a blueprint for more than 200 vertiports planned globally by Urban-Air Port® to be developed over the next five years.
According to a study1 undertaken by Booz Allen on behalf of NASA, an unconstrained Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market would reach $500 billion in the US alone, with $2.5 billion predicted in the short term. Now there’s a ‘but’, infrastructure for take-off and landing facilities is the biggest constraint. Maybe this team has found an answer.
Also in last week’s UAM news, Inmarsat announced that Dimetor and Bellwether Industries are joining it’s partner ecosystem in support of helping UAV travel between cities become a reality. Dimetor provides support for BVLOS solutions via cellular networks, while Bellwether’s Volar, an UAM aircraft for personal and private mobility, is designed to fly anyone at any time between any points in a city. Volar’s user-centric design and city compatibility aims to redefine future lifestyles and reduce complications often associated with city transportation, helping make stress-free intra-city transportation a reality, sooner rather than later.
Kai-Tse Lin, Bellwether’s Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, said: “Inmarsat’s contribution is extremely important to the future development of Bellwether’s Onboard Vehicle Management System and airspace integration. It’s crucial that the operation of our Volar urban aircraft is a simplified and user-friendly experience, making commuting in a Volar easier than driving your car.”
As much as this sounds cliché, maybe the Jetsons will be your new city neighbor in the not too distant future?
1 https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190001472
