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Innovators Compete to Build Self-Flying Emergency Aircraft

GoAERO is a three-year competition backed by NASA, Boeing, RTX, Honeywell, and aviation and first response industry groups.

Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 05:10 PM ET

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Drones, such as this P1 model from Zipline, are excellent at delivering medical supplies but not performing rescues. [Courtesy: Zipline]

Key Takeaways:

GoAERO is a three-year competition backed by NASA, Boeing, and RTX, offering $2 million in prizes for the development of autonomous emergency response aircraft.
The initiative seeks to create versatile, uncrewed aircraft capable of delivering first responders, rescuing individuals, and transporting supplies for medical emergencies, disasters, and humanitarian crises, particularly in underserved "ambulance deserts."
Open to a wide range of innovators, the competition provides extensive support, including educational platforms, expert mentorship, and NASA funding for university teams, culminating in a multi-mission "fly-off" in February 2027.
Competitors retain full intellectual property rights, with GoAERO focused on fostering an ecosystem to facilitate the commercialization and deployment of these life-saving technologies.

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Calling all students, engineers, businesses, and other innovators. Time is running out to join a competition that will award $2 million in prizes to whoever can build the best autonomous emergency response aircraft.

December 11 is the submission deadline for Stage 1 of GoAERO—a three-year contest backed by NASA, Boeing, RTX, and other key aviation stakeholders seeking to aid the estimated 4.5 million Americans living in “ambulance deserts,” who may need to wait longer than 25 minutes for emergency services to arrive. The aircraft created by competitors could rescue people in danger and respond to disasters, medical emergencies, or humanitarian crises.

Jack Daleo

Jack is a staff writer covering advanced air mobility, including everything from drones to unmanned aircraft systems to space travel—and a whole lot more. He spent close to two years reporting on drone delivery for FreightWaves, covering the biggest news and developments in the space and connecting with industry executives and experts. Jack is also a basketball aficionado, a frequent traveler and a lover of all things logistics.