Boeing [BA] on Tuesday said it is working with a small company it invested in last year to provide traffic management solutions for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
Boeing said it and SparkCognition will apply artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies to the unmanned air traffic management system, which will track flights and create flight corridors. The companies also said their solutions will “provide a standardized programming interface to support package delivery, industrial inspection and other commercial applications.”
Amir Husain, founder and CEO of SparkCognition, said in a statement that the “urban aerial mobility” market is estimated to be worth $3 trillion, saying it “will lead to the creation of the largest new market in our lifetimes.”
Last November, Boeing’s HorizonX unit that is investing in startup companies with advanced technologies, made an investment in SparkCognition to support the development of data-driven analytics platform for the safety, security and reliability of data technology.
To help Boeing put a greater focus on unmanned traffic management and future commercial mobility solutions, it is creating Boeing NeXt, a new organization that will be led by Steve Nordlund, who is also the vice president of HorizonX.
“By taking a holistic approach that combines Boeing’s strength in technological innovation with new business models and nontraditional partnerships, we are laying the foundation for the future commercial mobility ecosystem,” Nordlund said in a statement. “We are shaping the physical and connectivity infrastructure to ensure new air vehicles safely operate in the global air space.”
Boeing said its recent concept for a passenger-carrying hypersonic aircraft, as well as electric vertical takeoff-and-landing vehicles that will provide for on-demand cargo transport and air travel in urban environments, will be part of NeXt.