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Interview

Doing it Differently

Supernal adopts a ‘first to scale” approach in contrast

to other players in the advanced air mobility industry

he fledgling advanced Radars (Echodyne): Spans
air mobility industry onboard systems for in-flight
is witnessing hectic situational awareness to ground-
T activity, with several based solutions for enhanced
companies competing to gain first operational clarity in dense air-
mover advantage. Hyundai sub- space, such as vertiports, flight
sidiary Supernal is taking another areas and corridors.
route to success.
Satellites (Inmarsat): Define the
“Supernal is taking a ‘first to application of satellite connectiv-
scale’ approach over the ‘first ity in AAM; will conduct testing
to market’ sentiment you see and data sharing to optimize
across the industry,” says Adam hardware and network systems.
Slepian, Chief Commercial Officer, Adam Slepian We will connect our eVTOL to
Supernal, in an interview with Arun Chief Commercial Officer, Supernal Inmarsat’s Velaris SATCOM ser-
Sivasankaran. “We are taking the vice to assess capabilities such as
time to advance vehicle systems and manufacturing processes. aircraft state and telemetry monitoring.
This will lead to a more affordable vehicle and means to quickly
ramp up production to meet the volume of demand we expect to
see in the coming decades. This year, we are heavily focused on Q Being a Hyundai subsidiary must have
systems integration and manufacturing technology maturation.” its advantages. Can you talk about that?

As part of Hyundai Motor Group (HMG),
Q Over the last few months, Supernal has signed collaborative Supernal has the time and resources to
agreements with many companies, including Microsoft, BAE develop AAM the right way. HMG’s business
Systems and Honeywell. In a brand-new sector, how crucial spans 50+ affiliate companies worldwide,
are such partnerships for a company? specializing in auto manufacturing, con-
struction, robotics, autonomous driving and
In order for Advanced Air Mobility to become a wide-spread mode financing. We are working with many HMG
of transportation, every detail — from the passenger experience affiliate companies to identify opportunities
to regulations and infrastructure — needs to be addressed from for collaboration across AAM vehicle systems,
the start and work in lockstep with one another. This is why you manufacturing and ecosystem.
see Supernal striking partnerships with a variety of companies
and industries.

We are partnering with legacy aviation suppliers, like BAE Systems, Q Supernal commences operations in
Honeywell, GKN, Qarbon and UMBRAGROUP, to advance existing 2028. Some of your competitors in the
aviation technologies to meet eVTOL vehicles’ unique require- Urban Air Mobility Sector want to start
ments. This is a testament to our commitment to achieving the operations within the next couple of years
highest levels of commercial aviation standards. and are hoping to gain an early foothold in
the market. Does that worry you?
We are also partnering with new entrants to the aviation industry.
For weather forecasting, we have a partnership with TruWeather. No. Again, Supernal is taking a “first to scale”
This will provide a comprehensive view of low-altitude weather approach over the “first to market” sentiment
and enable us – and the rest of the industry – to more accurately you see across the industry. It’s possible to go
assess and predict weather conditions at critical locations and to market with today’s aerospace materials,
along flight paths. technologies and manufacturing processes;

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