Key facts
- Joby Aviation's autonomy technology enabled a 3,100-mile flight across the U.S. without pilot intervention.
- The flight included autonomous taxiing, takeoffs, navigation, and landings.
- The aircraft was remotely supervised from Joby's California headquarters and Shaw Air Force Base.
- Joby used a converted Cessna Caravan for the cross-country trip.
- The company sees potential applications in medical transport, disaster response, and defense logistics.
- Joby acquired Resonant Sciences for $500 million to bolster its defense business.
Joby Aviation announced Friday that an aircraft equipped with its autonomy technology completed a flight of more than 3,100 miles across the United States without any human pilot intervention. The company described the journey as the "first-ever autonomous flight across the United States," encompassing autonomous taxiing, takeoffs, navigation, and landings. The flight was remotely supervised from Joby's headquarters in California and Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, though a pilot was on board for compliance purposes.
Using a converted Cessna Caravan, Joby demonstrated that its autonomy technology can adapt to various environments and missions, including medical transport, disaster response, and defense logistics. This capability extends beyond Joby's primary focus on developing electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for urban air taxi services.
The company has a significant relationship with the U.S. Department of Defense and is actively expanding its presence in the military sector. Its autonomy stack is designed for retrofitting onto a wide range of conventional aircraft. Joby plans to initially market a regional airframe featuring this autonomy stack for defense and commercial freight transport, supported by a $17 million Air Force contract.
In August, Joby acquired Ohio-based Resonant Sciences, a maker of radio frequency and sensor systems, for $500 million in cash and stock. This acquisition integrated Resonant Sciences into Joby's dedicated defense business, which is working on projects including turbine-electric and hydrogen-electric aircraft, as well as the autonomy technology stack. Last year, Joby also partnered with defense contractor L3Harris Technologies to explore opportunities in developing autonomous gas-turbine hybrid eVTOL aircraft for defense applications.