Northwest Aerospace News August | September Issue No. 10 | Page 21

I
f that sounds daunting, on the bright
side, we’re now at a convergence point
where technological and safety advance-
ments, alongside evolving regulatory poli-
cy, can meet societal preferences to enable
new mobility solutions that will make life
easier for everyone.
And Boeing is ready to lead the
mobility transformation.
The New Mobility Ecosystem
When thinking about the future of mobil-
ity, there are many questions we grapple
with as a company. What production
system is needed to manufacture safe,
aerospace-grade autonomous air vehicles,
at many times the production volume of
commercial aircraft today? What solutions
are required to safely integrate unmanned
systems into manned airspace, when air
traffic increases by an order of magni-
tude? What design approaches are re-
quired to ensure redundancy, range, power
and stability for electric-powered flight at
a much lower cost?
Rather than merely focusing on creat-
ing autonomous air vehicles, Boeing is
leading the responsible introduction of a
safe mobility ecosystem. Boeing NeXt is
re-imagining the future of flight and mo-
bility to address the growing challenges
and limitations of sustainable, economic
and accessible modes of transportation
and infrastructure.
Three components will drive the
future mobility evolution — en-
abling technologies; the right
economics for affordable trans-
portation, intermodal conve-
nience and the right regulatory
path for safety of travel on the
ground and in the air.
Boeing is working with industry leaders, stakeholders, new and existing partners
and regulators to unite these key enablers.
Boeing looks at our ventures investments, for example, as an augmentation of
our R&D, leveraging investments and technology from other industries and ap-
plying them to aerospace. Through Boeing NeXt’s sister organization, HorizonX
Ventures, (see sidebar), we are identifying key technologies to help the next
generation transportation market evolve faster.
Boeing invests in the future of flight
Boeing HorizonX Ventures makes minority equity investments in early-stage
companies developing technologies with potential aerospace, services and
manufacturing applications. Boeing’s investments to date that support the
future of mobility include:
1. SparkCognition, an Austin, Texas-based leader in artificial intelli-
gence-powered products to enhance cyber security and state-of-the-art
machine learning technology for predictive analytics applications.
2. SkyGrid - Boeing and SparkCognition have established a joint
partnership, combining Boeing’s technological know-how, aviation
legacy and airspace management experience with SparkCognition’s
innovation in cognitive computing and machine learning, to safely
and reliably deliver a shared vision for aerial mobility.
3. Near Earth Autonomy, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company
focused on developing a portfolio of technologies that enable safe and
reliable autonomous flight.
4. Cuberg, a Berkeley, California-based startup designing next-genera-
tion battery technology for potential aerospace and industrial applica-
tions. Its advanced battery cell could prove to be a safe, stable solution
for future electric air transportation.
5. Fortem Technologies, a Salt Lake City, Utah-based company devel-
oping advanced radar systems for unmanned and manned aircraft.
6. Kittyhawk, a San Francisco, California-based software startup that
offers an integrated technology platform to support a safe, reliable
next-generation air traffic management system.
7. Matternet, a Menlo Park, California-based company pioneering safe,
on-demand unmanned aerial vehicle delivery operations in urban
environments.
8. Aerion, a Reno, Nevada-based company pioneering next-generation
supersonic aircraft. Boeing HorizonX and Boeing NeXt made a signifi-
cant investment in Aerion to accelerate technology development and
aircraft design, and unlock supersonic air travel for new markets.
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