Moonrock Newsletter: Our first update for October 2024
Moonrock Drone Insurance
A market-leading drone insurer for hobby and commercial drone operators
It’s been another inspirational, innovative period for the drone industry so please enjoy your first October round-up from your experts Moonrock Drone Insurance.
We’re drone/eVTOL specialists and this regular update is designed to help you keep on top of the latest news, regulations, insights and technological developments in the commercial market.
In the news:
HexCam achieve 15km BVLOS milestone with CAA nod
HexCam has been authorised by the Civil Aviation Authority to fly its SPARROW HAWK VTOL drone up to 15km away from a remote pilot under ‘Beyond Visual Line Of Sight with Visual Mitigation’ rules.
The approval marks a significant increase from its previous 9km limit for our DJI M300 series drones and required the firm to thoroughly demonstrate and prove its experience and capabilities for planning and managing the safety of long-range flights.
The company said in a statement: “The latest permissions take us closer to the trial’s goal of fully BVLOS drone flights along the 60km construction corridor of the?Norwich Offshore Wind Zone?projects between Happisburgh and Necton.”
Evolve Dynamics wins UK government grant
Evolve Dynamics, which specialises in drone-in-a-box technology has been awarded an Innovate UK Smart Grant, which is funded by UK Research & Innovation, part of the UK government.?
The Drone-In-A-Box is developed to offer a high-quality, single-unit solution specifically designed for public safety applications. By providing first responders with greater situational awareness and surveillance capabilities from a distance, the drone is designed to help to minimise human risk and quickly ascertain the required response level.
Mike Dewhurst, CEO and Founder of Evolve Dynamics told SUAS News: “We’re delighted and honoured that Innovate UK has recognised the potential of our drone-in-a-box technology. We believe this capability holds immense opportunities and is a truly disruptive technology that can transform the way in which first responders operate and work.”
Toyota backs Joby Aviation with $500m investment
Toyota Motor Corporation and Joby Aviation, which develops electric air taxis for commercial passenger service, announced that Toyota will invest an additional $500 million to support the certification and commercial production of Joby’s electric air taxi, with the aim of realising the two companies’ shared vision of air mobility.
The funds will be delivered in two tranches and bring Toyota’s total investment in the firm to $894m.
“Today’s investment builds on nearly seven years of collaboration between our companies,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO, Joby Aviation. “The knowledge and support shared by Toyota has been instrumental in Joby’s success and we look forward to deepening our relationship as we deliver on our shared vision for the future of air travel.”
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Air taxis make the news
It’s clear that knowledge and awareness of the potential for air taxis is growing, as signified by the Joby Aviation/Toyota story above, so Moonrock was delighted to see Good Morning America report on the technology. Air taxi specialists Archer feature in the exciting segment which shows just how far UAVs have come.
Watch it on Archer’s LinkedIn Page https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/flyarcher_air-taxis-have-entered-the-chat-at-good-morning-activity-7249115415639949312-FxZL/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
Monitoring:
ARPAS dispatches from DroneX
Last month, the drone industry gathered at the flagship show DroneX. ARPAS-UK was there and flagged numerous highlights from the inspirational conference.
The team commented: “The quality of conversations at DroneX 2024 was high with what felt like more attendees than in previous years. We certainly barely stopped, to the extent that the only photo we took of the team at the show was taken at the end of the two days and after we’d packed up!”
Graham Brown, Chair, and Anne-Lise Scaillierez, CEO delivered a keynote address on industry updates and ARPAS-UK activities to support the industry. The body also took part in the panel discussion moderated by Amanda Smith, Sellafield, with Sophie O’Sullivan, CAA, Vickie Murdy, UKRI, Anne-Lise Scaillierez, ARPAS-UK, and Louisa Smith, Apian, on “Unlocking Drones for UK industry: what can innovators, the regulator and government do to help?”.
Learn more: https://www.arpas.uk/post-dronex-2024-thoughts-from-arpas-uk/??agreed?
Moonrock news:
Rachel Oliver joins us as COO
We’re excited to announce that Rachel Oliver has joined us as a Chief Operating Officer.
With more than 20 years of experience in insurance, she joins from Aioi Nissay Dowa UK where she was an Operational Resilience Consultant. Prior to this, she spent four years at Brit, most recently as Head of Operational Agility. Oliver also spent nine years at Amlin across a number of business and operational areas including Actuarial and projects.
Rachel said: “I started my career in aviation so I’m delighted to return to the sector. Moonrock is a dynamic, innovative,?fast-growing business with huge amounts of potential. I’m excited to be part of its growth and journey.”
Simon Ritterband, MD and founder of Moonrock added: "Her deep expertise in the field will be invaluable as we accelerate our expansion across both the commercial and hobby drone insurance sectors. Rachel’s leadership will undoubtedly play a key role in driving our ambitious growth plans forward."