BVLOS
Melbourne-based drone logistics company Swoop Aero has obtained BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line Of Sight) approval for medical logistics operations in Queensland. The approval from Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) allows Swoop Aero to operate in a fully integrated airspace with an aerodrome based hub at the local airport
Business
IPO-bound Delhivery has acquired California-based Transition Robotics, a startup developing Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) platforms. Delhivery has taken over all of the acquired company’s intellectual properties registered in the United States, including those concerning aerial photography, remote sensing, inspection and surveys. Founded in 2011 by Jeff Gibboney, Transition Robotics
Business
Plymouth Rock Technologies Inc., the Massachusetts-based UAS developer, has announced a procurement partnership with German Wankel engine manufacturer Sky Power GmbH. PRT makes both multi-rotor and fixed-wing UAS, which it markets for use in commercial, military and law-enforcement applications. Its XV fixed-wing VTOL system, capable of beyond visual line-of-sight operations,
Business
DroneUp, LLC, an aviation technology provider, announced that it has acquired AirMap, Inc., a digital airspace and automation company serving the global aerospace economy. AirMap's Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) service is the most comprehensive airspace management software solution in the world. The acquisition comes on the
Business
Airobotics, an Israeli manufacturer of autonomous Unmanned Aircraft (drones) and Aerial Data Platforms, and Solar Drone, an Israeli company specializing in solar farms services, have signed a binding agreement under which Airobotics will develop and supply to Solar Drone a unique solar panel cleaning drone system. The fully automated system
Accidents
At about 7:55 a.m. on Dec. 6 on Holloman Air Force Base an MQ-9 Reaper crashed on the runway during takeoff. Officials with the 49th Wing say no injuries were reported and base access was not restricted. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Holloman Air Force
Propulsion
Electric Sky, Inc. announced that it has begun building the world’s first Whisper Beam transmitter for wirelessly powering in-flight UAVs, with funding from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Past wireless power for UAVs used lasers or microwaves, which start strong but get weaker as they
Business
The air taxi startup Volocopter wanted to come to the New York stock exchange Nasdaq with a big deal, but the plans failed. The crowdfund investors are now going almost empty-handed. The 750 crowdfund investors had been waiting for the news since the summer. The email in which the air
Inspections
The gas network operator MITNETZ GAS from eastern Germany has to check the tightness of around 3,500 km of gas pipelines every year. Gas leaks have devastating consequences: Not only the gas supply then no longer can be guaranteed, but the climate-damaging gas methane escapes. To reduce methane emissions,
Testing
Several leading Japanese technology firms, including BIRD INITIATIVE, Inc. 1, ANA HOLDINGS INC.2, AIN HOLDINGS INC. 3, and NEC Corporation,4 have partnered with the Hokkaido Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry 5 to conduct a drone operations pilot project in Wakkanai City, Hokkaido prefecture. Tests conducted examined the
Transport
UAVaid and Swoop Aero have entered into a strategic partnership for air logistics services in Sierra Leone. Swoop Aero’s autonomous eVTOL aircraft will be integrated in UAVaid’s mixed-fleet drone offering in Sierra Leone and complement UAVaid’s long range fixed-wing HANSARD drones. “As sustainable drone logistics continues to
Testing
For more than five years, Zapata Industries, a company founded by Franky Zapata, a former world jet ski champion, has been promoting his 'Flyboard Air' to the armed forces. It is a platform which, equipped with five motors allows you to fly at an altitude of 3,000