Airbus launches Airbus Aerial commercial UAS start-up focusing on data analytics

“Through Airbus Aerial, we are uniquely positioned and fully committed to advancing the commercial UAS industry. It is bringing together partners from across the industry – ranging from vehicle manufacturers, data analytics companies, service providers, and others – to enable data-focused services at large scale,” says Airbus Defence and Space Chief Executive Officer Dirk Hoke. “Using an integrated combination of assets, from UAS platforms to satellite imagery, Airbus Aerial is rolling out a wide range of new imagery services. In the future, additional pillars of the Airbus Aerial activities will be in the area of cargo drone services as well as providing connectivity via aerial assets.”

The U.S.-based part of Airbus Aerial will be headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and led by Jesse Kallman, a UAS industry expert with more than 12 years of experience including research at Georgia Tech, federal policy at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), commercial UAS at Airware, and advocacy with groups like Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). Kallman has served as a trusted adviser to executives at Fortune 500 companies, members of Congress, senior officials at the FAA and White House, and leading Silicon Valley Venture Capital groups.

“Drones are only a piece of a much larger picture for us,” says Kallman. “Airbus Aerial brings together a variety of aerospace technologies – including drones and satellites – combines them in a common software infrastructure, and applies industry-specific analytics to deliver tailored solutions to our customers’ biggest challenges.”

Airbus Aerial imagery services targets a range of applications for commercial industries, such as insurance, agriculture, oil and gas, and utilities, as well as state and local governments.

Recruitment for positions in software development, data analytics, and drone operations, among other roles, has begun. Airbus Aerial is also looking for new partnerships to help bring these new services to market.

Airbus is a global provider of aeronautics, space, and related services. In 2016, it generated revenues of €67 billion and employed a workforce of around 134,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as Europe’s number one space enterprise and the world’s second largest space business. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.

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