*OK, technically it will be called UberAir…but “flying cars” sounds so much more…how shall I say… exciting, don’t you think? Oh I know what some of you might be thinking: “I’ve barely gotten over getting into the car with a complete stranger.” “I’m even more terrified at the thought of driver-less cars!”
Now Uber wants me to be up in the sky in one?
“Where will it end?” might be your final question. Allow me get that for you…
It won’t.
I get the feeling Uber is trying to take over the planet, no, the Universe. But that’s a story for another day.
On Wednesday the gargantuan ride share company officially teamed up with NASA to develop a traffic systems for a flying car project it hopes to start testing in 2020.
We can’t say we didn’t see this one coming as we were forewarned about this last year; when Uber teased us with details about “on demand aviation” — under the name Uber Elevate.
At the Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon on Wednesday, Uber revealed they signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA for the development of “unmanned traffic management.”
According to CNBC, 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.
Uber’s vertical take-off and landing vehicles will fly at a low altitude.
Uber continues to make moves in the partnership department lately. Recently, they even teamed with GoGoGrandparent — a company that makes it easier for seniors without a smartphone to travel. But this, however, is the company’s first time partnering with a U.S. federal government agency.
But they’re not exclusive in this as NASA is also working with other companies to develop traffic management for low altitude vehicles.
“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.”
Of course this opens the door for all kinds of questions…the main one being, are these licensed pilots?
Perhaps the video below will answer this question and and more.
