SAN ANTONIO – Port San Antonio is building a new vertiport that it said will serve as a testing and demonstration site for autonomous, electric vertical aircraft and the systems needed to fly them safely in controlled airspace.
Port San Antonio President and CEO Jim Perschbach said the project is intended to help develop automated flight rules and routes that could eventually support pilotless aircraft moving people and cargo across the region.
“We’re going to develop automated flight rules here in San Antonio,” Perschbach said. “We’re going to be teaching the world how to fly.”
The vertiport site at the port and Kelly Field is among a limited number of places where companies can test the technology safely because it is a controlled airspace, Perschbach said.
He described it as a real-life “sandbox” for developing the framework for automated flight routes.
Port San Antonio is working with SkyGrid, a Boeing company, on tools and systems that Perschbach said will be needed to support pilotless operations, including new radar methods, artificial intelligence applications and common software platforms.
Perschbach said early use cases could include less complex operations before moving into more challenging environments.
He added that cargo transport in less congested areas and emergency medical response may be among the first practical applications for these vertical electric pilotless aircraft.
Looking ahead, Perschbach said he expects flying air taxis or air buses to help supplement existing transportation in the coming decade. The hope is to get the vertiport, which is already under construction, off the ground within the next few years.
“Things that we do with cars and buses and trains today (will be) augmented, supported, supplemented and advanced by flying vehicles that will allow us to get there more safely,” he said. “More efficiently.”