Aspen Avionics and Sensurion Aerospace will bring certified avionics to the UAS and unmanned air-taxi marketplace, thanks to a recently announced co-development partnership between the two.

The companies will focus on several areas, including FAA certified autopilots, communications, navigation, and surveillance systems for small, medium, and large UAS, including future cargo and passenger carrying aircraft.

“The real winners in this partnership are the UAS users, system integrators and manufacturers,” says Aspen President and CEO, John Uczekaj.

“Our consumers demand adaptability and a certifiable pedigree that can help get them to market quickly, operate with an extreme level of safety, and include innovative architectures that combine certified avionics with today's flying drone service/IoT data platforms, and near future cargo movers and people haulers.”

Aspen Avionics and Sensurion Aerospace say that this partnership will create jobs and fill the void in commercial UAS avionics, which is important considering that revenue estimates for commercial UAS operations are expected to surpass $100 billion in the next ten years, and because the demand for UAS with certified avionics fills a large gap between hobby UAS and military platforms.

“Our UAS customer's return on investment calculations turn profitable most quickly when they can operate beyond visual line of sight,” explains Sensurion CEO, Captain Joe Burns.

“What they are asking for are proven systems that do not cost a fortune, meet governing authority standards, are able to evolve with the pace of global digitization, and most importantly offer a safer integration path into our airspace.”

Burns goes on to say that “our roadmap is clear. We are combining the talents, agility, and pedigree from two industry leaders, to bring UAS consumers what they want, with a value proposition that puts safe drone technology to work across many industries.”

According to the companies, initial product development from them will include an autopilot/flight controller, TSO'd GPS/GNSS, and surveillance systems including ADS-B.