Category Archives: Applications & Testing & Experience

Joby Completes First-Ever Fully Autonomous Flight Across the United States

Joby Aviation, Inc. announced that an aircraft equipped with its autonomy technology has completed the first-ever autonomous flight across the United States. The aircraft flew 3,199 miles with zero control inputs from its onboard safety pilot, concluding the eastbound leg of its month-long tour in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, near the site of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight.

Textron Systems’ Aerosonde Completes First UAS Vertiport Flights in Commercial Airspace

Textron Systems Corporation, a Textron Inc. company, announced that it participated in a demonstration collaborating with the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP) at Virginia Tech supporting the Virginia Advanced Air Mobility Smart Airspace Program, becoming the first unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to fly in commercial airspace utilizing two vertiports. Continue reading →

GE Aerospace and Kratos Announce Successful Ignition of GEK800 Turbofan Cruise Missile Propulsion System

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. and GE Aerospace announced a key program milestone with the successful ignition of the GEK800 turbofan cruise missile propulsion system. Recently, the GEK800 Serial Number 1 was tested at the X-58 test facility, igniting successfully.

GA-ASI Mojave First UAS to Complete Battlefield Short Field Ops

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and Hanwha Aerospace have completed the first-ever flight operations from a simulated battlefield by a medium altitude, long endurance unmanned aircraft. The partners proved that the Mojave Short Takeoff and Landing aircraft, or Mojave STOL, could land at a tank and artillery live-fire range during simulated combat conditions and then take off again to continue the mission.