NASA has agreed to work with ride share company Uber to develop the systems needed for their flying taxi called Uber Elevate to begin test trials by 2020.
Uber said at the Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon that it signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA for the development of “unmanned traffic management.” This is NASA’s push to figure out how unmanned aerial systems (UAS), such as drones that fly at a low altitude, can operate safely.
“UberAir will be performing far more flights on a daily basis than it has ever been done before. Doing this safely and efficiently is going to require a foundational change in airspace management technologies,” Jeff Holden, chief product officer at Uber, said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Combining Uber’s software engineering expertise with NASA’s decades of airspace experience to tackle this is a crucial step forward for Uber Elevate.” – CNBC
Uber is also working with real estate companies to determine possible take off and landing sites for their UberAir taxi’s.
Featured image via video screen capture
