Moya Aero Moya eVTOL (prototype)

Moya eVTOL (prototype)
Moya Aero
São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil
www.moyaaero.com

Moya Aero was founded in 2020 by Renata Marins Paolillo (COO) and Alexandre Zaramela (CEO) in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil. Moya Aero  designs, manufactures and operates innovative cargo delivery and precision logistics electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aerial drones for advanced air mobility (AAM). The week of January 23, 2023, the company received a $2 million USD grant from Funding Authority for Studies and Projects (FINEP), a Brazilian government innovation agency that promotes science, technology and innovation under the Ministry of Science of Technology. (Image credit: Moya Aero.)

Moya Aero's goals:

• To have no CO₂ emissions with air logistics
• To connect remote regions with vital supplies
• Provide communities with poor or no infrastructure to have access to air cargo
• Improve the efficiency, productivity and cost of crop management
• Make hazardous flying safer
• Help businesses connect with their customers faster, cheaper and simpler

Moya eVTOL subscale heavy-lift eVTOL prototype drone aircraft
The Moya eVTOL is a remote controlled subscale heavy-lift eVTOL prototype cargo drone. The first flight was a successful five minute hover flight that took place on November 15, 2023 over the Fazenda Maristela Airport airfield near São José dos Campos in São Paulo, Brazil. This flight marks the beginning of the company's flight test campaign to help achieve government airworthiness certification for its future production aircraft.

In June 2023, the company announced they had built ninety percent of the subscale prototype. The prototype team used carbon fiber composite material for the fuselage and wings. The prototype has a wingspan of 5.5 meters (~18 feet). At the time, a picture from the prototype team shows nine members of the team and the black unpainted prototype inside a company workshop.

In November 2023, after the first hover test flight took place, the company did not revealed any specs of the flying prototype aircraft except that the flying prototype was slightly smaller than the size of the planned production model. The company released a picture of the prototype hovering and the drone was painted white with a blue stripe. The flying prototype also had a part of ends of each wing removed from the drone.

Planned production aircraft
The production aircraft's cruise speed is planned to be 150 km/h (93 mph), with an expected range of 300 km (186 m) and has an anticipated flight time of 42 minutes. The aircraft has a maximum calculated payload weight of 200 kg (441 lb) and its maximum calculated liquid load volume is 550 liters (145 gallons). The aircraft has four propellers, four electric motors and is powered by batteries. The heavy-lift cargo drone has tandem tilt-wings, its airframe is carbon fiber composite and has fixed tricycle wheeled landing gear.

The production aircraft has been designed to be an autonomous eVTOL drone. The aircraft will take off and land with the fuselage nearly parallel to the ground. Once the aircraft is in flight, the wings tilt and the aircraft flies with its fuselage at an angle. The aircraft can be used for logistics to carry packages efficiently from point to point. The aircraft can also carry liquid or seeds, then can spray liquids or release seeds on farmland or other agriculture areas.

Funding awarded
In February 2023, Moya Aero announced it was awarded a $2 million USD grant from Funding Authority for Studies and Projects (FINEP), a Brazilian government organization that promotes science, technology and innovation.

Letter of Intents (LOI)
In April 2023, it was announced that Helisul Aviation signed a signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to purchase 50 Moya air cargo eVTOL aircraft. In October 2023, N2 Infrastructure Technologies signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to purchase four Moya eVTOL aircraft. In November 2024,  Fototerra signed a letter of intent (LOI) to acquire 10 Moya eVTOL heavy-lift air cargo aircraft and MineToo signed a letter of intent (LOI) for 50 of their aircraft.

Test flights
On November 15, 2023, the first successful flight of the prototype aircraft took place over the SDA4 airfield near São José dos Campos in São Paulo. The company intends to begin selling the aircraft by the end of 2025. On Apr. 15, 2024, the company announced the autonomous eVTOL prototype aircraft had already completed 87 successful test flights. The flight testing campaign has seven phases, from ground tests to automatic mode flights. Moya is now at the end of Phase 4 and making final adjustments to the aircraft’s vertical flight capabilities.

Future
The company intends to be ready to sell their heavy-lift eVTOL air cargo aircraft by the end of 2026.

Specifications for the subscale prototype:

• Aircraft type: Subscale eVTOL cargo prototype aircraft
• Piloting: Autonomous
• Capacity: Cargo only
• Cruise speed: Unknown
• Propellers: 4 propellers
• Electric motors: 4 electric motors
• Power source: Batteries
• Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
• Wings: Tandem wings
• Wing span: 5.5 meters (~18 feet)
• Landing gear: Tricycle wheeled landing gear

Specifications for the planned production aircraft:

• Aircraft type: Planned air cargo eVTOL production aircraft
• Piloting: Autonomous
• Capacity: Cargo only
• Load volume: 550 liters (145 gal.)
• Cruise speed: 150 km/h (93 mph)
• Range: 300 km (186 m)
• Flight time: 42 minutes
• Maximum payload:  200 kg (441 lb)
• Propellers: 4 propellers
• Electric motors: 4 electric motors
• Power source: Batteries
• Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
• Wings: Tandem wings with winglets on the rear wing
• Landing gear: Tricycle wheeled landing gear

Related Aircraft:

• Moya Aero Moya eVTOL (concept design)

Company Insights:

• Crunchbase
• Pitchbook

Resources:

• Moya Aero website
• Moya Aero LinkedIn
• Article: Moya Aero Views Agricultural and Cargo Services as Likely Early Uses for Autonomous eVTOL Aircraft, Future Flight, Jan. 23, 2023
• Article: Moya Aero eVTOL confirmed at DroneShow 2023, DroneShow, Jan. 18, 2023
• Article: Moya Aero awarded $2M to boost cargo drone development, Vertical Magazine, Feb. 2, 2023
• Article: Helisul Aviation to purchase 50 Moya eVTOL aircraft, Vertical Magazine, Apr. 25, 2023
• Article: Moya Aero eVTOL prototype limbers up for first flight, eVTOL Insights, June 8, 2023
• Article: Techstars selects Moya Aero for Los Angeles accelerator, Vertical Magazine, Sept. 12, 2023
• Article: N2 Infrastructure Technologies to purchase four Moya eVTOL aircraft, Vertical Magazine, Oct. 20, 2023
• Article: Moya Aero successfully performs “its first eVTOL flight”, eVTOL Insights, Dec. 4, 2023
• Article: Moya eVTOL successfully performs its first flight, Vertical Magazine, Dec. 4, 2023
• Video: Moya Aero's Autonomous Cargo eVTOL Takes First Flight, Global Update, Dec. 5, 2023
• Article: Moya eVTOL Takes Flight, Electric VTOL News, Dec. 21, 2023
• Article: Moya’s eVTOL prototype completed 87 successful flights, Vertical Magazine, Apr. 15, 2024
• Article: Moya Aero’s Autonomous eVTOL Prototype “Completes 87 Successful Test Flights”, eVTOL Insights, Apr. 17, 2024