MissionGO Flight demonstrations in the Navajo Nation highlight essential use cases for deliveries via unmanned aircraft

MissionGO, a leader in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) production and operations, was invited by the Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President, and mobile healthcare company ZappCare, to showcase how MissionGO’s unmanned aircraft delivery service can be used to transport medical supplies and other essential items to people living in the most remote areas of the Navajo Nation.

The four flight demonstrations, named by the Navajo Nation as “Healing Eagle Feather”, took place in Window Rock, Az. on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022. Each flight made a unique cargo delivery to highlight broad customer use cases: 1) pharmaceutical medical cargo which might be delivered by Navajo healthcare providers of insulin, an inhaler, vitamins and hypertension medication; 2) healthy, fresh produce including carrots, zucchini, bananas and apples, and a locally prepared meal; 3) an emergency kit which might be delivered by Navajo first responders with water, a flashlight and batteries, emergency blanket, MRE and a satellite phone; and 4) medication for livestock.

Cargo delivery research and demonstrations conducted by MissionGO would not be possible without the collaboration and integrations with MediGO, a supply chain resource management platform that manages a complex chain of custody and complex mode of transportation for urgent medical cargo, and AlarisPro, a fleet management and maintenance tracking platform that provides the pilots and crew with the information about airworthiness, aircraft readiness, pilot qualifications and countless other data to ensure a high level of confidence that the aircraft will continue to fly safely and securely to communities.

“The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and accelerated healthcare’s desperate need for high-quality chain of custody, resource management and organization of modes of transport. Conventional healthcare logistics rely on manual solutions that are especially unreliable for high-value assets with high urgency, often resulting in poor quality care delivery. MissionGO and MediGO are building technology solutions that improve healthcare resource efficiencies, drive improved outcomes, reduce costs, while integrating with unmanned aircraft,” said Scott Plank, co-founder and CEO, MissionGO and MediGO.

The Healing Eagle Feather flight operations on Jan. 22 were organized in partnership with ZappCare, a mobile healthcare innovator that aims to bridge the medical divide for Native American communities.

“We thank the Navajo Nation, and especially Vice President Myron Lizer, for inviting MissionGO to demonstrate some of the capabilities of Unmanned Aircraft Systems. We also thank President Nez and other Navajo leadership for their generous time commitment to educate our team and to speak with the community about future collaborations. MissionGO is demonstrating ways we are leapfrogging deficient infrastructure to deliver both recurring and urgent healthcare and emergency services to the Navajo community,” added Plank.

MissionGO engages with communities and companies in three ways:

• Performing critical infrastructure inspection as a leading UAS operator in the Country inspecting utility services to identify critical maintenance and transmission issues.
• Operating cargo enabled autonomous unmanned helicopters to provide safe, efficient, inexpensive and low carbon footprint transport of critical medical cargo such as blood samples and human transplant organs; healthy, fresh and local foods; and more.
• Training first responders throughout the country to earn their FAA 107 commercial UAS pilot license, to safely operate UAS, and provide training in tactics and skills for the many situations that first responders encounter.

About MissionGO
MissionGO is setting a new standard for next-generation transportation logistics. By leveraging unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), MissionGO delivers improved reliability, reduced costs, and increased transparency to benefit multiple sectors, including healthcare and critical infrastructure. Learn more at https://www.missiongo.io