Under the new agreement, Uber will share its plans and data around an urban aviation ride-sharing network, which NASA will combine with its airspace modeling to simulate light aircraft traffic around Dallas Fort Worth International Airport during peak travel times. Initially, the partnership between NASA and Uber centered on general modeling and simulations, but the pair have now signed another deal that applies this to real-world airspace. Uber has previously said that its flying taxis will fly below 10,000 ft (3,000 m). This could mean that you have a low-speed channel of airspace reserved for hobbyists flying video drones, for example, with a high-speed channel above that for delivery drones and then another for flying taxis. The agency has been working on traffic management systems for unmanned aircraft like drones for a few years now, and last year signed an agreement with Uber to do the same for flying taxis. Were such a service to get off the ground, it would mean a lot more air traffic for urban centers, and that's where NASA comes in. These would be piloted to begin with, and then fly on their own once autonomous technologies mature.

These aircraft would be electric to keep noise and carbon emissions to a minimum, have either two or four seats and take passengers on trips of up to 60 miles (96 km) between dedicated launch pads called Skyports. Boeing, Airbus and a host of aviation startups are also vying for territory in this area, and despite the fact that everything rides on a yet-to-be proven technology, a lot of money and resources are going into such efforts.įor its part, Uber imagines using vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft to carry people around urban centers. Uber first shared its plans for a flying taxi service back in 2016, and it is not alone in harboring such ambitions. Among the news to trickle out of the event is a new deal with NASA, along with some flashy new concepts previewing what the aircraft could look like.

Not to be pinned down by its continuing troubles here on the ground, Uber is pushing ahead with its flying taxi ambitions at its Elevate conference in LA this week.

Flying uber in dallas