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Measured Approach

Besides building towards a 2028 launch of opera-
tions, eVTOL company Supernal is also working to
ensure the feasibility of the urban air mobility sector
By Arun Sivasankaran

nlike many other players in the urban air
mobility sector, Supernal is not rushing
to start commercial operations, but the will supply actuators and motor control electronics
Hyundai Motor Group’s subsidiary is cer- needed for the vehicle, Qarbon Aerospace will work
U tainly not idling away time. with Supernal to apply its induction welding technology
In July this year, Supernal announced the setting up to the assembly of Supernal’s thermoplastic carbon
of its engineering headquarters in Irvine, California. In composite vehicle components. GKN Aerospace will
August, the company opened its Policy and Commercial supply lightweight aerostructures and high-voltage,
Office in Washington, D.C. The company is expected to high-power electrical wiring systems for the company’s
open the doors of its R&D facility in Fremont, California, full-scale technology demonstrator that is scheduled to
before the end of the year. The company also plans to begin flying next year.
hire new employees, with its headcount expected to
exceed 500 by the end of the year. Over the last year Supernal and Honeywell will explore the integration
and a half, the company has also signed contracts with of the Honeywell Anthem integrated flight deck into
several prominent suppliers for the eVTOL aircraft that the eVTOL vehicle while BAE Systems will work with
it is developing. the company to design and develop the air taxi’s
flight control computer. Supernal will also make use
Helping to Shape the Industry of TruWeather Solutions’ weather data analytics and
In a fillip to its efforts to not just build aircraft but also forecasting technology for its vehicle and operations
shape the supporting ecosystem for UAM in cities, the testing. While Echodyne will provide enhanced safety
company has also been successful in hiring former through all-weather airspace monitoring using its radar,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) executives with Supernal will use Inmarsat solutions on its eVTOL vehi-
experience in the field of Unmanned Aircraft Systems cles to help improve uncrewed aircraft system traffic
(UAS). With safety concerns and public acceptance
issues continuing to dog the young industry, the induc- management (UTM). As part of its collaboration with the
tion of former FAA staff is likely to help the company, company, Supernal will gain early access to Microsoft’s
which already has a partnership with the city of Miami Project AirSim, an artificial intelligence (AI)-first simu-
to help facilitate Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) opera- lation platform, to safely build, test, train and validate
tions, play a key role in shaping regulations for UAM autonomous aircraft transportation through simulation.
globally.
“We are taking the time to advance vehicle systems
Jay Merkle, who joined the company as senior director and manufacturing processes,” says Adam Slepian,
of regulatory affairs in February this year, is a FAA vet- Chief Commercial Officer, Supernal. This will lead to a
eran, having spent three decades with the regulatory more affordable vehicle and means to quickly ramp up
agency. Before joining Supernal, he was executive direc- production to meet the volume of demand we expect
tor of the agency’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to see in the coming decades. This year, we are heavily
Integration Office where he led the efforts for the safe
integration of drones into the national airspace system. focused on systems integration and manufacturing
The company has also brought in Mike Whitaker, who technology maturation.
has served as Deputy Administrator of the Federal Slepian explains why the company plans to start oper-
Aviation Administration. Whitaker now serves as Chief
Commercial Officer of the company. ations in 2028. “Supernal, as part of Hyundai Motor
Group, understands the vehicle is only one piece of a
“Uniting top aviation expertise is critical to Supernal’s much larger mobility puzzle. We’re using these early
mission of responsibly shaping and introducing the years to lay the groundwork to ensure AAM is tech-
Advanced Air Mobility ecosystem,” says Jaiwon Shin, nically, regulatorily and commercially feasible. This
president of Hyundai Motor Group and CEO of Supernal. includes addressing airspace integration, physical infra-
structure, energy grid requirements and so much more.
Partnering for Success We’re also working to serve as an industry resource to
At the Paris Air Show this year, the company announced help local, state, federal and international governments
three partnerships as part of its efforts to build a team understand what AAM is and how they can begin a
of suppliers for its eVTOL vehicle. While UMBRAGROUP positive cycle of planning.”.

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