Category Filtering: 'infrastructure'
On Monday, May 9 (the eve of the VFS Forum 78), The Air Current (TAC) broke the story that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had decided that winged electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that met the FAA’s definition of “powered-lift”— a term used nearly exclusively for pilot qualification rules — could not be certified or operate as “airplanes”
On March 29–31, the Vertical Flight Society hosted a groundbreaking, first-ever symposium and workshop on the potential for hydrogen (H2) to decarbonize aerospace.
On Jan. 19, Urban-Air Port (UAP), a UK-based startup, announced that it secured an investment from Supernal, the AAM subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group, to advance the development of AAM networks.
Amid a maturing market for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, aerospace industry professionals and regulators have increasingly turned their attention to considering the types of infrastructure required to support these operations.
On June 22, Senators Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) and Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) introduced the Recognizing and Ensuring Taxpayer Access to Infrastructure Necessary for GPS and Satellite 14 Communications Act of 2021 (RETAIN Act).
Since 2014, the Vertical Flight Society has been leading efforts to promote the advancement of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and their operations for a variety of advanced air mobility (AAM) missions, including for the subset of urban air mobility (UAM).
On Jan. 27, Munich, Germany-based Lilium announced that it had signed a framework agreement to develop a network of at least 10 vertiports with Ferrovial, a global leading infrastructure operator based in Madrid, Spain. The zero-carbon infrastructure and services “will cover strategic locations in all major cities across Florida.”
The city of Orlando, Florida, along with the Tavistock Development Company and Lilium, announced on Nov. 11, 2020, that Lake Nona — adjacent to Orlando International Airport (MCO) — would be the site of what it called the first eVTOL vertiport in the world.
