Volume 01 | Issue 27 | December 7, 2020
Internet of Military Things, Starburst Aerospace CEO, Droneport Network

Welcome back to the Future of Aerospace, where each week we dive into a few of the trends rapidly defining the next generation of aircraft and aerial markets.

Last week, Axios broke a story on Uber Elevate's talks to possibly sell its electric air taxi unit to Joby Aviation. Check out their full article here.

SpaceX is one of the top recipients of funds in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), the FCC’s reverse auction working to bridge the digital divide, marking a win for its Starlink satellite constellation. SpaceX will receive $885.5 million in support over ten years to connect 642,925 sites in 35 states — more states than any other winning provider. More on that here.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is hosting a week-long virtual innovation symposium with panels focusing on cutting-edge topics like green aviation, artificial intelligence, digital air traffic management transformation and more.

Check out their full agenda here.

THIS WEEK: Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper said on Dec. 7 that a crisis will likely force the Pentagon to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) and ways to involve commercial start-up innovators in scaling up AI quickly. (Autonomy & AI)

The aerospace industry is not short on innovation, however, turning a small startup into a breakthrough company in an industry this large and diverse is challenging. Francois Chopard, CEO of Starburst Aerospace, a global aerospace and defense accelerator that connects industry and government with startups, shared his expertise in the industry with Aviation Today. (Electrification and Sustainability)

Dronamics, a cargo drone developer and operator, has established agreements with the first five airports in Europe where it plans to operate on-demand drone cargo deliveries and is preparing for flight testing to begin next year, the London-based company's CEO and co-founder Svilen Rangelov told Aviation Today in a recent interview. (UAS Integration)



Thanks for reading.

—The Future of Aerospace Team
Pentagon Needs to Establish 'Internet of Military Things,' Air Force Acquisition Chief Says
Image: U.S. Air Force

U.S. Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper said on Dec. 7 that a crisis will likely force the Pentagon to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) and ways to involve commercial start-up innovators in scaling up AI quickly.

"I think creating a true militarized Internet across our military platforms–an Internet of Military Things–is going to put us face to face with the AI dilemma–not necessarily how to fight it on the battlefield, though that is a dilemma we need to be worried about–[but] the dilemma that we will never drive that technology within the U.S. military," Roper told an AFWERX Accelerator forum on scaling up innovation.



What is the Internet of Military Things?
  • The Air Force's air and space "Internet of Military Things" is to be the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), which is itself part of Joint All-Domain Command-and Control (JADC2), an effort to build a cross-service digital architecture for multi-domain operations–in effect, a military Internet of Things with machine-to-machine interfaces.

  • The Air Force has requested $3.3 billion for ABMS over five years, including $302.3 million in fiscal 2021.

  • In the last several years, the Air Force and U.S. Space Force have made significant strides in coding and working with software companies which code, as well as adopting enterprise and open-source software tools, such as containerization and Kubernetes, to field rapid iterations of new software for new ICBMs, the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter and ISR programs, Roper said.

  • Roper: “I think it will be one of the first technologies the Pentagon will have to look at and say, 'We can't win without it.' That has been the urgency we have lacked. The Pentagon needs a crisis to really mobilize and change itself. I think AI will create that crisis where we say, 'We can't win without it, but we can't use it unless we change everything about how we work with commercial innovators to operationalize it on commercial terms.'"

  • Doug Philippone, the global defense program lead at Palantir Technologies, said that DoD needs to do sufficient market research to locate innovative companies for specific, fast fielding needs. Philippone said that Palantir spends $500 million annually on research and development.

  • Philippone: “If you have a requirement and need an outcome, remember to do market research first and just ask, 'Can anyone else do this?' before you build it. One thing I can guarantee is, China is not competing with its industrial base, and we have to work together.”
Trae Stephens, a principal at the San Francisco-based Founders Fund venture capital firm and a former Palantir employee, told the AFWERX Accelerator forum that the next two years will be critical for start-up companies that have won small DoD innovation contracts, as the companies will want to see dedicated, larger investments from the Pentagon to sustain their efforts.

Roper: “I'm excited that we've got a crisis coming up, and we should never waste a good crisis, as [U.S. Air Force Gen.] Hap Arnold said.”


Read more on the Internet Military of Things here.
Future of Aerospace Startups Q&A with Starburst Aerospace CEO
Image: Francois Chopard, CEO of Starburst Aerospace.

The aerospace industry is not short on innovation, however, turning a small startup into a breakthrough company in an industry this large and diverse is challenging. Francois Chopard, CEO of Starburst Aerospace, a global aerospace and defense accelerator that connects industry and government with startups, shared his expertise in the industry with Aviation Today.

Starburst Aerospace partners with companies like Boeing, General Atomics, and Lockheed Martin to accelerate industry startups like ZeroAvia, a zero-emission hydrogen aircraft powertrain producer, and Skyloom Global, a company creating an optical transfer network. Starburst also provides venture funding and strategy consulting and has accelerated 215 startups and made 783 startup/corporate interactions.

Check out some of our discussion with Francois below:
  • What startups are you watching right now and what technology areas are they in?

    Chopard: We are looking at the whole aerospace industry so, in a very broad sense, including both aviation and space as well as all the enabling technologies. We can split that in a couple of ways, but basically, we're going to look at platforms, which are from the light drones, cargo drones, we are looking at eVTOL [electric vertical take-off and landing], the same cars. We are looking at the disruption of the small regional aircrafts that are going to be powered, either by battery or electric vehicles…There’s a very wide range of startups.

  • How does your company look at a smaller startup and decide, yes, I think that they have the right idea here? What do they have that makes them successful and able to compete in this very tough industry?

    Chopard: So, we're going to look at two things and then some side elements, but first we're going to look at the team and where they're coming from, what is their experience, are they just engineers and tech guys, or are they successful entrepreneur in other areas. And so, the team is really key, and then the dedications and motivations… Then we look at what is the problem they are solving, and the first question is, is it a big enough problem like disrupting the last mile delivery using drones or bringing back the Concorde and the supersonic travel this type of thing.


  • How is COVID-19 affecting these startups? Is there still enough funding or is that an area where people are struggling?

    Chopard: Indeed, in these type of times it's always the same thing, that the best startups are getting even better and more funding and the ones that were already weak and supposed to fail are failing sooner and faster.

  • What technology developments do you feel are not getting enough attention?

    Chopard: I think right now people are still a bit scared of AV industrial investment, so I assume that it's not software related, people are a bit more reluctant, but because of SpaceX and Tesla people are realizing that it's possible to make a strong business case even manufacturing hardware. So, it's changing a little bit, but it's still a struggle for entrepreneurs that want to manufacture big things, and that don't have $100 million that like Elon used to have, you know when he started this company.

Read our full Q&A with the CEO of Starburst Aerospace.
Dronamics Moves Closer to On-Demand Drone Deliveries in Europe with New Airport Network
Image: What a future "droneport" operated by Dronamics will look like.

Dronamics, a cargo drone developer and operator, has established agreements with the first five airports in Europe where it plans to operate on-demand drone cargo deliveries and is preparing for flight testing to begin next year, the London-based company's CEO and co-founder Svilen Rangelov told Aviation Today in a recent interview.

Rangelov first established the startup with his brother in 2014, with the goal of using their Black Swan unmanned aircraft to perform same-day air cargo deliveries for time-critical shipments. Now, as their drone inches closer to European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) type certification, they plan to begin deploying the enabling equipment that will allow them to create what they describe as "middle-mile" cargo deliveries with a focus on remote areas.

How will Dronamics Enable On-demand Drone Deliveries and Where?
  • The first five airports, unveiled in a Nov. 30 press release, include private airports and airport groups operating more than 35 airports in 11 European countries.

  • These include regional leaders in air cargo such as Liège Airport (Belgium), which serves as Alibaba’s European Hub, and Brescia Airport (Italy), the national hub for the Italian postal system. Other agreements were established with a select number of airports at strategic locations throughout the continent including Skövde Airport in Sweden, Seinäjoki in Finland, and Croatia's Osijek Airport.

  • Over the next year, Dronamics will start deploying its "droneport" equipment at these airports.

  • Rangelov: “On a high-level, the droneport equipment set consists of cameras, antennas, and ground control equipment that can fit in a small room. Those airports we announced are where we intend to operate from starting in 2022 and we're having discussions with a number of others as well, as we're looking to grow the network even further."

  • Massimo Roccasecca, Group Cargo Director at SAVE Group, the operator of Brescia Airport: “The partnership with Dronamics is key for us in this critical time of high demand for air freight. Earlier this year the whole world saw the effects that border closings and strict quarantine measures had on global supply chains, as the world was and still is combating the COVID-19 pandemic. But when you have a way to move cargo without traveling with it, supply chains become lockdown-proof.”
Rangelov: “We envision three main types of cargo - e-commerce, cool-chain pharma, and industrial spare parts such as [Aircraft on Ground] AOG spares or, automotive. Initial operations will have human operators at each droneport manage the taxi, take-off and landing, while the cruise flight is automated.”

Read more about Dronamics' future droneport plans here.
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