Aurora Flight Sciences

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American aviation and aeronautics research subsidiary of Boeing

title: "Aurora Flight Sciences" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["unmanned-aerial-vehicle-manufacturers-of-the-united-states", "technology-companies-established-in-1989", "manufacturing-companies-established-in-1989", "1989-establishments-in-virginia", "manassas,-virginia", "manufacturing-companies-based-in-virginia", "boeing-mergers-and-acquisitions", "2017-mergers-and-acquisitions"] description: "American aviation and aeronautics research subsidiary of Boeing" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_Flight_Sciences" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American aviation and aeronautics research subsidiary of Boeing ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

FieldValue
nameAurora Flight Sciences
logoAurora Logo.svg
image[[File:MIT and Aurora D8 wide body passenger aircraft concept 2010 (cropped).jpg
image_captionNASA / Aurora D8 airliner concept
typeSubsidiary
foundation
founderJohn S. Langford III
location_cityManassas, Virginia
location_countryUnited States
locations4
key_peopleMichael Caimona (president and CEO)
industryAerospace manufacturer
productsUnmanned aerial vehicles
num_employees468
parentBoeing
homepage
::

| name = Aurora Flight Sciences | logo = Aurora Logo.svg | logo_size = | image = [[File:MIT and Aurora D8 wide body passenger aircraft concept 2010 (cropped).jpg|center|300px]] | image_caption = NASA / Aurora D8 airliner concept | caption = | type = Subsidiary | genre = | predecessor = | successor = | foundation = | founder = John S. Langford III | defunct = | location_city = Manassas, Virginia | location_country = United States | locations = 4 | key_people = Michael Caimona (president and CEO) | industry = Aerospace manufacturer | products = Unmanned aerial vehicles | services = | market cap = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | assets = | owner = | num_employees = 468 | parent = Boeing | divisions = | subsid = | homepage =

Aurora Flight Sciences (AFS) is an American aviation and aeronautics research subsidiary of Boeing that specializes in special-purpose unmanned aerial vehicles. Aurora's headquarters is at Manassas Regional Airport.

History

In 1989, AFS was founded in Alexandria, Virginia, as a follow-on to the MIT Daedalus project.

In 1991, its first aircraft was the Perseus proof of concept (POC) built for NASA which first flew at NASA Dryden. It was followed by two Perseus As and one Perseus B – built for the NASA ERAST Program. A twin engine Theseus was also built.

In 1995, Aurora joined the Global Hawk team to build composite fuselage components and tail assemblies of the RQ-4 for Northrop Grumman and the USAF.

In 2002, a demonstration aircraft Mars High Altitude Deployment Demonstrator was flown from an altitude of 100,000 feet to simulate the low density of the Martian atmosphere. Aurora was involved in NASA programs studying how to fly on Mars.

In 2008, the DARPA Vulture aimed for a UAV that could stay aloft in the stratosphere for at least five years carrying a 1000 lb payload: Aurora proposed three drones taking off separately then joining up in flight, to form an efficient flat wing at night, and folding into a Z to optimize solar energy collection.{{cite news |url=http://aviationweek.com/future-aerospace/auroras-massive-solar-powered-stratospheric-unmanned-aircraft|title=This Is Aurora's Massive Solar-Powered Stratospheric Unmanned Aircraft|date=November 14, 2018 |author=Graham Warwick|work=Aviation Week & Space Technology}}

In 2009, as Aurora developed small vertical take-off UAVs known as the Aurora Goldeneye, the third variant of this family, the GoldenEye-80, was first flown publicly at Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International's Unmanned Systems North America trade show.

On 5 October 2017, Boeing announced that it would acquire Aurora Flight Sciences.

In April 2018, as DARPA allowed Aurora to transition government-funded technology for commercial applications, the tilt-wing XV-24A Lightning Strike and its distributed propulsion could be reused for an electric commercial air taxi along its lift-and-cruise prototype with vertical flight rotors and cruise fixed propellers, unveiled in 2017. Aurora planned multiple demonstrators controlled centrally by 2020 and a piloted air taxi by 2023 with autonomy later depending on regulation.

In spring 2019, Aurora planned to fly a High-Altitude Long Endurance drone powered by solar cells and batteries, Odysseus. The project was indefinitely delayed in July 2019.

Aurora won a DARPA CRANE (Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors) grant to test a small-scale plane that uses compressed air bursts instead of external moving parts such as flaps. The program seeks to eliminate the weight, drag, and mechanical complexity involved in moving control surfaces. The air bursts modify the air pressure and flow, and change the boundaries between streams of air moving at different speeds. The company built a 25% scale prototype with 11 conventional control surfaces, as well as 14 banks fed by eight air channels.

Facilities

Aurora has four facilities that each have their own focus. Corporate Headquarters and Engineering are in Manassas, Virginia. A manufacturing center was opened in Fairmont, West Virginia, in 1994, being moved to Bridgeport, West Virginia, in 2000. Another manufacturing facility was opened in Starkville, Mississippi, in 2005 before being moved to the nearby Golden Triangle Regional Airport in Columbus, Mississippi, in 2007. A research and development center was opened in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2005 where Aurora now develops a line of micro air vehicles.

Aircraft

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Aurora_LightningStrike_aircraft_concept.jpg" caption="Aurora LightningStrike [[VTOL X-Plane"] ::

Proposed {{Anchor|D8}}

Cancelled

Other products

  • Robotic Copilot

References

References

  1. "Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation".
  2. Alwyn Scott. (October 5, 2017). "Boeing to buy autonomous and electric flight firm Aurora". Reuters.
  3. Stephen Trimble. (25 April 2018). "DARPA approval clears Boeing's transition to new air taxi approach". Flightglobal.
  4. Blain, Loz. (2023-01-20). "Active flow control X-Plane uses virtual control surfaces made from air".
  5. "ARES Mars Scout Mission Proposal - Platform". NASA.
  6. (October 2023). GoldenEye]] 50 Gets Airworthiness Certificate", Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, June 19, 2007. Retrieved on August 25, 2009.
  7. link. (22 November 2021 ", AviationWeek.com, December 7, 2006. Retrieved on August 25, 2009.)
  8. ''Hovering Hybrid'', page 36. Aviation Week & Space Technology, July 20, 2009.
  9. Natalie Clarkson. (7 July 2022). "Virgin Galactic announces Boeing's Aurora will build new motherships". Virgin Group.
  10. https://www.aurora.aero/robotic_copilot/ Robotic Copilot

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

unmanned-aerial-vehicle-manufacturers-of-the-united-statestechnology-companies-established-in-1989manufacturing-companies-established-in-19891989-establishments-in-virginiamanassas,-virginiamanufacturing-companies-based-in-virginiaboeing-mergers-and-acquisitions2017-mergers-and-acquisitions