SpaceX and Tesla Veterans Raise Over $100 Million for Future Autonomous Cargo Aircraft

When SpaceX and Tesla veterans join forces to create a startup, we can assume it’s going to be a successful one. This seems to be the case for Reliable Robotics, a young company that has doubled in size in only a couple of years. Its goal? To make autonomous cargo and passenger flight a reality. “We believe aircraft should fly themselves” is the company’s motto and something that we could be seeing very soon.

The California-based company just secured over $100 million to develop its remotely-piloted cargo aircraft operations. So far, the Reliable Robotics autonomous aircraft system has been demonstrated on two types of airplanes. First, a Cessna 172 was flown with no one on board. Also, a bigger Cessna 208 Caravan, typically used for cargo operations, was piloted from a control center at the company's headquarters. After Reliable Robotics had received authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), these demonstrations were important milestones to fly experimental uncrewed aircraft.

The main advantage of a remotely-piloted aircraft for cargo delivery is that it can access rural areas and remote regions that have been challenging until now. Equipped with the Reliable Robotics autonomous system, the aircraft can reach thousands of underutilized regional airports across the U.S. In addition, it can land safely, even on smaller airstrips, without requiring a special infrastructure. This means increased accessibility and lowered costs.

The Californian startup has also recently been selected for NASA's Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) national campaign. During the first phase, scheduled for 2022, the company's automation system will be integrated with Urban Air Mobility (UAM) vehicles, infrastructure services and airspace providers within an ecosystem that will showcase the future of aviation.