Tech giant Microsoft and urban air mobility (UAM) firm Volocopter have teamed up to develop an aerospace cloud system in the former’s cloud computing service Azure.
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The system will be designed to address the nascent cloud computing requirements for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, UAM, and autonomous aviation, the duo said in a joint statement.
“We certainly see the potential a secure, robust, and efficient cloud platform could offer aerospace and urban air mobility operators,” Uli Homann, CVP, Cloud and AI at Microsoft, said, adding that the two firms will start to build the foundation for a commercial model for aerospace cloud.
Microsoft’s cloud computing service will support Volocopter’s digital platform VoloIQ, which the firm plans to use as its standard UAM operating system for all electric passenger and drone flight operations.
Azure will also enable the digital platform’s flight and service support for the aerospace company’s eVTOL aircraft, like VoloCity, VoloDrone, and VoloConnect, alongside ground infrastructure support in real-time.
According to Volocopter, VoloIQ software will help streamline its transition into an autonomous air taxi services provider when the time comes.
The Germany-based aircraft manufacturer has raised $579 million in equity from investors, including $170 million in a Series E funding round in March to assist with the certification of its electric passenger air taxi.
The Global UAM market size, valued at $2.7 billion in 2020, is projected to reach $8.4 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 15.9% from 2021 to 2028, according to Verified Market Research.
