LTA Hybrid Electric Orb for Urban Air Mobility
Progress continues with the AFWERX Phase I STTR contract awarded to Galaxy Unmanned Systems for work on an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) feasibility study. Awarded in 2021, Galaxy continues this work with government and local industry stakeholders and has enlisted research partners from the University of Texas at Arlington.
The opportunity in this award was for research is in how to normalize orb integration into the United States National Airspace (USNAS) from isolated test sites, to use case development zones, and eventually into unprotected congested urban areas.
Kamesh Subbarao, Professor at UTA, commented on the project, “We developed integrated Guidance, Navigation, and Control algorithms to improve situational awareness using Reactive Collision Avoidance for autonomous Airship operations; working alongside a highly professional and vastly experienced, technical group at Galaxy UAS.”
The solution set for the project is to conduct research for developing autonomous capabilities and feedback mechanisms for hybrid-electric propulsion, advanced guidance of non-traditional aerial vehicles in complex environments, sense and avoid capabilities, and fully automated launch and recovery capabilities.
Tony White, Co-founder and Chief Pilot, commented, “the work of validating CONOPS, hardware, software, for integration solutions continues. We are collecting data and using engineering modelling methods to overcome obstacles standing in the way of full Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) NAS integration. Our LTA Orb will provide the Agility Prime initiative stakeholders with an affordable and reliable test platform for rapid airborne systems integration in a real-world operational environment in all areas of
development.”
Jason White, a Managing Partner of Galaxy Unmanned Systems LLC, is bullish on DFW’s AAM future. “We as a company are motivated and see the benefits of being part of our local Advanced Air Mobility industry ecosystem in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex build-out.”
This article is one instalment of a multipart series that explains the Galaxy Unmanned Systems road map concept model. Watch for follow on articles that explain how these series of awards fit into their master plan for integrating UAS into the NAS.
To learn more about Galaxy Unmanned Systems LLC visa www.galaxyuas.com
