Uber has NASA on board to make flying taxi service twice as safe as cars

Ride-sharing giant Uber is partnering with NASA in a bid to bring its flying taxi service into effect by 2023, amid the company’s claims the fleet will be twice as safe as cars.

NASA will explore the concept and technologies behind urban air mobility, contributing airspace management computer modelling to assess the impact of small aircraft in crowded environments.

At the Uber Elevate Summit 2018, Mark Moore, Uber’s director of engineering for aircraft systems, said the company’s “urban air mission” to launch Electonic Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles is focused on “very much close-proximity operations”.

NASA will use data supplied by Uber to create simulations of small passenger aircraft negotiating Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport airspace during peak traffic times, in a bid to identify any potential safety issues.

In a statement on the partnership, NASA said it wants to ensure small aircraft enter the marketplace as safely as possible, with acceptable levels of noise, and without over-burdening the current air traffic control system. Read more

Stephanie Palmer-Derrien - Smart Company - 14 May 2018