Culture / Newsy

Flying Cars Are Closer Than Ever — Just 6 More Years?

Uber and NASA Team Up to Make It Happen

BY // 11.14.17

Uber is one step closer to bringing its futuristic vision for flying cars to Dallas after forming a partnership with NASA. The tech company revealed at Web Summit that it would work with NASA to develop air traffic management systems for the flying taxi initiative.

However, the project is still a long way from takeoff. When Uber introduced the idea last spring, the company insisted it would be testing the flying cars in Dallas and Dubai by the year 2020. At last Wednesday’s Web Summit, Uber announced that Los Angeles would also be among the first cities to experience the technology. The company hopes to launch the service by 2023 and have it fully up-and-running well ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

This is the first time the tech company has officially partnered with a federal US agency. The deal is part of NASA’s Space Act Agreement. The agency will help determine how the new aircrafts can be included into the current air traffic pattern.

Uber previously partnered with several aviation companies in order to develop a VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) electric aircraft that would work for the flying taxi initiative. VTOL aircrafts don’t require a runway for takeoff or landing, making them ideal for urban use. The company also wants to create something quieter and more efficient than its Uber Choppers.

Oh, and the electric aircrafts will supposedly be self-driving. Needless to say, the technology isn’t quite developed yet, but that hasn’t stopped the company from thinking big.

Here’s how it would work: Passengers would order their flying taxi on the Uber app, and board the aircraft from “vertiport” stations on top of nearby buildings.

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Uber already has plans with Hillwood, the real estate company owned by the Perot family, to develop its first U.S. test vertiports. The first is slated for Frisco in North Texas

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