EmbraerX and Pyka team up to accelerate the future of autonomous agriculture airplanes

EmbraerX, the disruptive innovation arm of Embraer, and Pyka, an Oakland-based startup working at the forefront of autonomous aviation, have announced a partnership to accelerate the future of autonomous aerial agriculture operations.

The collaboration is focused on technology, certification, operations, and future commercialization of Pyka's Pelican, a 100% electric and autonomous fixed-wing agricultural aircraft.

By using agile experimentation processes, the companies will work together to accelerate the entry of Pyka’s best-in-class autonomous solutions into service in the precision agriculture sector. EmbraerX is committed to exploring disruptive products and services that could revolutionize the business, including new market segments for Embraer’s agriculture aviation business.

“EmbraerX is a market accelerator committed to developing solutions that can transform the world and inspire our partners by approaching unprecedented ideas with creativity and grit,” said Daniel Moczydlower, head of EmbraerX. “Pyka’s innovation and technology capacity is aligned with our strategy to accelerate the creation of innovative business models through partnerships that have the potential for exponential growth.”

Both companies will pursue opportunities to scale commercial services as autonomous aircraft operations in Brazil evolve in the coming years. Pyka’s Pelican is already flying for customers in Central America, aiming for a high level of productivity, cost-efficiency, safety and sustainability.

“We're incredibly excited to team up with one of the world's largest aerospace companies to enable our vision of bringing electric aircraft into everyday use," said Michael Norcia, CEO and co-founder at Pyka. “We've been laser-focused on certifying and delivering a compelling autonomous electric aircraft to serve customers. Now, we are working with an industry leading aerospace partner in one of the largest agricultural markets in the world to help scale our electric aircraft business. We look forward to working with EmbraerX to further integrate autonomous electric aircraft into the agriculture industry and the broader economy."

The partnership is backed by Embraer’s more than 50-year history in aircraft development, certification, manufacturing, commercialization and aftermarket services expertise.

BlueSky Business Aviation News | 30th September 2021 | Issue #623