SAN DIEGO – High Lander Aviation of Tel Aviv, Israel announced late last year that it signed a memorandum of understanding with unmanned aircraft maker Starling Inc., a company operating in San Diego as well as Temecula.
The deal integrates Starling’s high-performance, long-range aircraft, called Pathfinder-X, as well as its ground station hardware, called Starling Hub, with products from High Lander.
High Lander brings to the table its drone fleet management system, called Orion DFM, as well as its airspace management solution, called Vega UTM.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Starling’s aircraft is capable of vertical takeoff and landing, or VTOL in aviation terminology. It also has propellers for forward flight. It is made in the United States, satisfying the requirements of customers who, by law, must use American-made products.
High Lander said the partnership is designed to let private, public and homeland security organizations conduct long-range operations at scale and in full compliance with the Federal Aviation Administration’s new beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) framework.
Under the new agreement, the parties will combine the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of Starling’s proprietary aircraft and its ground station (also called a dock) with the scalability and regulatory support of High Lander’s software solutions. The companies say the partnership creates “a truly end-to-end package for complex BVLOS operations.”
Starling’s aircraft has an approximate wingspan of 5½ feet and weighs 13 pounds, camera included. It has a one-way flight range of 99 miles. In forward flight, it can stay in the air for more than 3 hours; a hovering flight can last as long as 35 minutes.
Starling Inc.
FOUNDED: 2024
CEO: Ido Gur
HEADQUARTERS: San Diego, with facilities in Temecula
BUSINESS: Producer of unmanned aerial vehicles
WEBSITE: starling-systems.com
CONTACT: (646) 639-4410 or [email protected]
NOTABLE: The company’s Pathfinder-X aircraft can shift back and forth from hovering to forward flight. The aircraft takes off and lands vertically.
