GE, SmartSky, and Mosaic Link Up for eVTOL Safety Systems

As the market for Advance Air Mobility comes closer to real world, omnipresent fruition, many companies see a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get in on the ground floor and become an integral part of the foundation of a nascent industry.

The turn from small aircraft passenger service being based around half-century old light aircraft to ubiquitous, battery powered, eVTOL multirotor pod aircraft stands to make a considerable number of winners. Expansive rideshare services, sustainable aviation, and small-footprint airfields are closer to market than the layman thinks, and a recent NASA Innovation Award is building the ecosystem. 

GE Aviation, SmartSky Networks, and Mosaic ATM have been working on a system that combines flight management systems and air traffic management in a single joint program. Using a cloud-based flight management system, the system aims to optimize airspace utilization while maintaining the necessary safety procedures for each aircraft in transit. AAM systems will rely much more on cloud architecture than legacy GA aircraft, aiming for a simplified piloting system where possible, often intending full automated flight in the future. As conceptualized, the FMS will allow ATC better real-time trajectory and airspace management planning by expanding and optimizing available data inputs and processing across external sources. The data produced will allow those interested to further optimize their operations, minimizing delays or improving ESG metrics. The system relies heavily on SmartSky's networking capabilities, as the real-time, low-latency bidirectional data link is perfectly suited to AAM operations. Coverage of the contiguous USA is expected by the 2nd half of 2022. 

“Advanced Air Mobility FMS presents unique space, power, and processing requirements and GE Aviation, Mosaic ATM and SmartSky Networks working together, have identified ways to address these challenges,” said Gary Goz, navigation systems product director at GE Aviation. “By combining both airborne and cloud-based FMS systems—coupled with a reliable, low latency network—we can address processing needs while meeting critical safety standards for flight control.”

“TrueCourse, GE’s latest generation FMS, with its modularized architecture designed for today and the future, is ideally suited to play this role,” added Brad Mottier, president of Systems for GE Aviation.

FMI: www.SmartSkyNetworks.com, www.GEAviation.com