Boeing Subsidiary Signs Five-Year Research Contract

Boeing-owned Wisk Aero recently signed a long-term contract with NASA to research the integration of autonomous aircraft under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). This is an expansion of the partnership established in 2020 to explore autonomous urban air mobility (UAM) operations.

Wisk Aero is credited with developing one of the US’s first all-electric, self-flying air taxis. Its prototype design, dubbed Cora, is a two-passenger Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) vehicle powered by 12 independent lift fans. It has a top speed of about 100 miles per hour and an initial range of approximately 25 miles plus reserves.

The developer has been working hand in hand with NASA since 2020 with a focus on the safe integration of autonomous systems in Urban Air Mobility (UAM). Now, the duo is expanding their partnership to research using advanced simulators and Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) environments. This allows them to build a realistic digital airspace for developing UAM airspace and routing, safety system requirements, and air traffic control (ATC) procedures.

“This new, long-term agreement with NASA is a significant step forward for Wisk and the broader UAM industry,” stated Erick Corona, Director of Airspace Operational Integration at Wisk. “With NASA’s simulation and LVC capabilities, we can accelerate the development of our Gen 6 autonomous systems to safely and efficiently integrate into the U.S. NAS before the end of the decade.”

Unlike the initial collaboration, the new five-year Non-Reimbursable Space Act Agreement (NRSAA) centers on autonomous flight under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). NASA has already been conducting research on these operations through its Air Traffic Management Exploration (ATM-X) project.

The pair recently hosted a workshop at the Mike Moroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City to kick off initial discussions. Specifically, they addressed “how instrument flight procedures and advanced technologies would work hand-in-hand to enable safe and efficient autonomous passenger flight.”

FMI: https://wisk.aero