Indiana’s Remote ID Tech, India’s Drone Delivery: Pierce Aerospace Partners with Skye Air Mobility

Pierce Aerospace Partners with Skye Air Mobility at CES

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

During the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Pierce Aerospace announced a partnership with Skye Air Mobility that will see the integration of Pierce Aerospace’s Flight Portal ID UAS Technologies with Skye Air Mobility’s drone delivery platforms and Skye UTM beginning in 2023.

Skye Air Mobility provides more than 10 states across India with drone delivery in the healthcare, e-commerce, quick commerce and agri-commodity sectors, working with clients such as Flipkart (Walmart Group), Dunzo, Swiggy, BlueDart DHL, Redcliffe Labs, Aster Healthcare, Cure Foods, and Tata 1MG. Skye Air has carried out more than 2300 BVLOS flights, delivering over 1 million packages and covering an aerial distance of 12800 km. The company aims to allow for faster, sustainable, andmore affordable deliveries for its clients.

Skye Air’s Skye UTM is a cloud-based drone traffic management system merging unmanned air traffic with the manned aviation airspace. Skye UTM is India’s sole drone traffic management platform, and has been used to support more than 300 successful BVLOS drone flights so far. The platform records over 255 parameters of drone movements, storing them in a published systematic description of the flight. Skye UTM provides the first 3D perspective of the drone airspace, alongside operations and regulations mapping servers providing the latest airspace status, verified paths, and real time UAV movements.

“We’re working with the Skye Air team on concepts that will work in India’s rapidly growing drone market,” said Pierce Aerospace CEO Aaron Pierce. “Our infrastructure approach to Remote ID aids Skye Air’s growth and integrates their UTM with our Remote ID services that enhance the safety and security of their commercial operations.”

“We are very proud to partner with Industry leading Remote ID service provider, Pierce Aerospace,” said Skye Air CEO Ankit Kumar. “The partnership will bring together a combined solution of UTM & RID to the Indian and US market. Having completed more than 1 million package deliveries, we believe it’s the right time to introduce Pierce Aerospace’s Remote ID capabilities for enterprises and the government to manage traffic and have real-time UAS tracking through combined solutions. Skye Air is uniquely positioned both as a service provider and user for the combined (UTM + RID) offerings.”

“As an Indiana-based company, we are especially excited to continue the growth of Indiana and India’s thriving trade and business relationship,” said Pierce. “In the fall of 2022, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and the Indiana India Business Council presented us with an opportunity to meet with Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu. This led to follow-on meetings with the Indian Ministry of Commerce, where we discussed important international business opportunities and the growth potential of the Indian drone economy. Through this new market entry, we believe there’s a great opportunity for our respective drone businesses and the local communities this international partnership will serve.”

“Pierce Aerospace and Skye Air Mobility working together to bring a comprehensive drone solution to the Indian commercial market is the exact sort of natural partnership that the Indiana India Business Council is proud to help foster,” said Dr. Aarti Shah, Chairwoman Indiana India Business Council. “This is an exciting time for combining the strengths and global leadership positions of India and Indiana’s startups. India and Indiana have a long history of successful trade with companies like Infosys establishing their North American headquarters in Indiana. The Pierce Aerospace and Skye Air Mobility partnership further builds that legacy of successful trade and the trust not only between Indiana and India, but in the trust, innovative leadership, and friendship of the United States and India.”

The partners intend to employ both of their technologies to increase opportunities for commercial drone delivery. With Pierce Aerospace’s Remote ID solutions, Skye Air meets all aviation regulatory, safety, and security requirements. Integrating Flight Portal ID’s commercial Remote ID data feeds will enable Skye Air to identify UAS in Skye UTM. Those same data feeds will also grant critical situational awareness to Indian government regulators and security organizations.

“After having completed over 1 million package deliveries in India, we are scaling the drone delivery model in multiple parts of India,” added Kumar. “With Pierce Aerospace’s Remote ID systems, we shall be making the flights more trackable and safer. The solution will also build confidence in regulators and ANSPs towards having situational awareness of the UAS activities and segregate between approved and rogue drones so as to deploy necessary security measures.”

Pierce Aerospace’s UAS Remote ID technology suite Flight Portal ID comprises Remote ID receivers, broadcast modules, software, integration capabilities, and remote administration services. Flight Portal ID provides leading Remote ID solutions and features an integration service record with a variety of commercial unmanned traffic management (UTM), detect and avoid (DAA), and United States Department of Defense command and control (C2) and C-UAS systems. Both commercial and government solutions can be integrated with Counter-UAS, UAS OEMs, and UTM systems.

Read more:

• Garuda Aerospace Earns Indias First DGCA Approvals for Type Certification, Pilot Training
• This Indian Drone is Built Like a Bird, Tested Like a Tank IdeaForge SWITCH
• The Survey of India: Garuda Aerospace Maps 7000 Villages by Drone in 1 Year
• ANRA Drone Tracking Solutions Demonstrated in India: Monitoring Small Drone Operations
• Determination to Be a Global Drone Hub Clear in Indias First Government Approved Drone Announcement

Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.