![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
. | ![]() |
. |
![]() By Joe JACKSON Coventry, United Kingdom (AFP) April 25, 2022
A pop-up urban port for delivery drones -- and one day, potentially flying taxis -- launched Monday in Britain, lifting a box of prosecco for a brief celebratory test flight hailed as groundbreaking. Air-One, a so-called "vertiport" for drones and future electric vehicles taking off and landing vertically, was proclaimed as the first of its kind by proponents and heralding a new era of low-emission futuristic air transport. Based in Coventry, a former car manufacturing powerhouse in central England, the site will be used for a month-long showcase of the burgeoning industry. The inaugural flight symbolically lifted the six-bottle box of sparkling wine, weighing around 12 kilograms, from the launch pad. The commercial drone used -- Malloy Aeronautics' T150, on loan from its day job doing logistics for the British military -- is the largest ever to fly in such an urban environment, according to Ricky Sandhu, founder and executive chairman of Urban-Air Port, the British firm behind the vertiport venture. "You're standing in the world's first fully operational vertiport," he told hundreds of assembled guests, including the start-up's 25 staffers and backers from the UK government. "This is an industry that is fledgling, of course, but it's now starting to take some real speed," Sandhu added. "We're all used to change... but it's the rate of change that we always underestimate, and things are changing really fast." - 'Ecosystem' - Urban-Air Port develops ground infrastructure for autonomous delivery drones and the air taxis planned for later this decade, and has spent the last year preparing for its Coventry showcase. The temporary Air-One site near the city's railway station aims to show how an integrated hub for the devices can function in a crowded urban environment, while also illustrating how it can serve as a mini-airport for eventual vertical lift-off travel. It is planning similar demonstrations in other UK and global venues in the coming months, and is aiming for more than 200 such sites worldwide. They are designed to be easily assembled and taken down, and use on-site hydrogen fuel cells for what the company calls "zero-emission generation". The company says it has orders worth 65 million pounds and projects are planned in the United States, Australia, France, Germany, Scandinavia and southeast Asia. Supernal, a US subsidiary of South Korean car-making giant Hyundai which is developing an autonomous flying electric vehicle concept that will carry passengers, is one of its partners. "We're focused on building out the ecosystem to allow this new technology to prosper," Michael Whitaker, its chief commercial officer, told AFP. "Without vertiports, without places to land, it won't be a business." Supernal is aiming to get its all-electric, eight-rotor concept vehicle, which is on display at Air-One, certified by 2024 before beginning mass production. "You'll see some operations this decade but I think the 2030s will really be the decade of advanced air mobility, and you'll really start to see this be more ubiquitous from that point on," said Whitaker. - First responders - Alongside the private sector, Urban-Air Port was one of 48 projects funded by a 300 million pounds UK government "future flight challenge", which matches money with promising projects driving the transition to greener transportation. The firm stresses that its vertiports could be used by local authorities, including emergency responders, as well as logistics operators and even the military. West Midlands Police -- Britain's second biggest force, responsible for Coventry and the wider region -- launched some of their dozen drones from Air-One on Monday. Inspector Mark Colwell, its lead officer for drones, noted their use had increased "dramatically" from one device in 2017 to the 12 now being operated by a team of 50 specially trained officers. He said they are currently launched from patrol vehicles for a variety of purposes from searches to crowd control, and current regulations require them to remain in a line of sight with the drone. But Colwell expects changes to the rules as the sector morphs and welcomed developments like vertiports. "I think it'd be very useful," he said before exhibiting his force's biggest drone, worth 20,000 pounds. "This sort of facility... could be a help for not only the police but the fire service, the ambulance service, (the) local authority." (stock image only)
![]() ![]() AFRL to highlight UAS and AFWERX programs at AUVSI XPONENTIAL Wright-Patterson AFB (AFRL) Apr 15, 2022 The Air Force Research Laboratory will showcase programs and technologies in several areas including weapons and unmanned aerial systems, plus avenues for sharing ideas or capabilities with the lab during the Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International (AUVSI) XPONENTIAL in Orlando, Florida, April 25-28, 2022. AFRL supports both the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, seamlessly working high priority research areas across the lab, meeting operational needs and delivering warfighting t ... read more
![]() |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |