Latest news with #FederalAviationAdministration-licensed
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
University of Alaska seeks to create second Alaska spaceport, farthest north in United States
Facilities at the Poker Flat Research Range, including buildings where rockets and payloads are assembled, are seen from a hill on Sept. 19, 2022. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon) Alaska, home to the farthest-north spaceport in the United States, could soon add a second Federal Aviation Administration-licensed space launch facility. On Tuesday, the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute in Fairbanks signed a five-year collaboration agreement with the state-owned Alaska Aerospace Corp. Though the terms of that agreement are highly technical, Gov. Mike Dunleavy's draft budget for the corporation indicates that the university plans to seek a FAA spaceport license for the university's Poker Flat Research Range, which has been flying sounding rockets — smaller rockets used for research — into the upper atmosphere since March 1969, including some earlier this spring. An FAA license could allow Poker Flat to launch larger rockets, and for commercial purposes, not just scientific ones. Making Poker Flat a 'licensed vertical orbital spaceport' could take up to two years, the budget documents state. It isn't clear how much the licensing process will cost. The new collaboration agreement doesn't specifically list a spaceport license but says that 'AAC and UAF will collaborate to develop and offer a combination of spaceport industry services that are more efficient and beneficial to the rocket and satellite industry than working independently.' AAC and UAF will work to develop common standards and cross-train employees that could work at either the Poker Flat range north of Fairbanks, or the Narrow Cape spaceport in Kodiak. Nine states have FAA-licensed spaceports, and there are 14 nationally. Only Texas, Florida, California and Virginia have two or more. Poker Flat predates the Alaska Aerospace Corp., which launched in 1991 as the state-owned Alaska Aerospace Development Corp. The new corporation initially considered Poker Flat for its headquarters and primary launch site, but in 1994, it picked Kodiak instead. Poker Flat has stayed a research facility since then, with regular launches of sounding rockets intended to probe the aurora, without a spaceport license. As far back as 2020, AAC was working with Poker Flat on a commercial spaceport license application for the Fairbanks-area site. Alaska Aerospace has an annual budget of about $10.5 million, all of which is paid for by federal funds and money the corporation earns. Thanks to the physics of a rotating Earth, locations close to the equator have an advantage when used as a launch point for rockets whose orbits are primarily east-west. Polar locations have an advantage for north-south, polar orbits. The Kodiak Launch complex and California's Vandenberg Space Force Base are valuable for rockets heading into polar orbits, because each has wide swaths of ocean to the south, and if a rocket launch fails, debris would fall into the ocean, not on inhabited land. Vandenberg typically serves large, heavy-lift rockets built by major manufacturers like Boeing and SpaceX, while Kodiak has traditionally flown smaller rockets from commercial companies. It isn't yet clear what market Poker Flat might serve; launches there have typically been restricted by Fairbanks to the south, the Canadian border to the east, and the trans-Alaska pipeline to the west. State budget documents suggest NASA contracts could be available for an upgraded Poker Flat, but since those documents were published, President Donald Trump has suggested significant cuts to NASA's budget. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Associated Press
19-03-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Reaching for the Sky
Lafayette-based FlyGuys uses AI to match drone operators with reality data clients across the nation. LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA / ACCESS Newswire / March 18, 2025 / As AI continues to evolve, Louisiana tech investor Joe Stough is leading the way with FlyGuys, which uses proprietary software to match supply and demand for drones. With a managed online marketplace business model, FlyGuys brings together over 14,000 Federal Aviation Administration-licensed drone pilots nationwide to assist clients and software companies in need of reality data. FlyGuys' clients work in various industries, performing tasks such as studying the productivity of a solar panel, inspecting utility poles, assessing the status of a commercial parking lot, or even modeling a cell tower. What unites them is a shared goal: easily finding and engaging drone operators to do work that would otherwise be difficult or dangerous for humans. 'Our drone operators are capable of delivering inspection reports quickly and with more precision than a human looking with their naked eye,' says Stough, CEO. Stough's extensive history as a global software creator and tech investor-with a focus on operational excellence-has given him valuable insight into the industry. He came to FlyGuys after successfully investing in the food delivery app Waitr, a company he eventually ran and took public. When common investors between Waitr and FlyGuys asked Stough to serve as a coach to the FlyGuys founder, he became an investor and was named Board Chairman. In 2022, Stough shifted gears and became CEO with the goal of elevating FlyGuys to a new level by bringing operational excellence processes to an already promising business model. How It Works Engaging FlyGuys is simple. Once clients submit an order for data capture using FlyGuys' proprietary cloud-based software, the AI platform sources the appropriate drone pilot based on location and experience, obtains a commitment from the pilot through a micro-contract, and coordinates the mission. Drone operators then confirm the job by a specified check-in confirmation date, ensuring no customer commitments fall through the cracks. 'Other companies deliver a similar service, but most narrow their focus to one or two vertical markets,' says Stough. 'FlyGuys is AI-agnostic by design, so there's no limit to the vertical markets we can access.' As partners to AI software companies and drone pilots or service providers, FlyGuys' pure horizontal focus makes it unique. The company also prides itself on delivering quality services however big it grows. Market response has been exceptional. After a significant investment in cloud-based software, FlyGuys' revenue exploded from $3.9 million in 2023 to $10 million in 2024. By 2025, the company is projected to grow an additional 100%, and over the next five years its annual revenue is on track to reach $100 million. 'But even that,' says Stough, 'is nowhere near the limit of FlyGuys' potential. 'The total market for these reality data-gathering products is in the billions,' he continues. 'It's a highly disruptive technology in a sizable but fragmented market with very little competition. And it's exactly the kind of technology that clients nationwide will need to grow into the future.'
