For over 35 years, Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing company, has transformed advanced research into operational autonomous flight systems. By integrating advanced simulation, rigorous flight testing, and AI-enabled algorithms, the company is developing aircraft that learn, adapt, and operate safely in shared airspace.
“Our distinct advantage is closing the loop between research and reality,” said Dr. Mia Stevens, chief engineer of Aurora’s ATLAS program. “We build and fly real aircraft, like our optionally piloted Centaur, to make autonomy trustworthy and operational. We are defining how the next generation of aircraft will think and fly.”
Aurora pioneers this future through a practical, phased approach. The company’s legacy in optionally piloted aircraft (OPA) provides a crucial bridge between piloted and fully autonomous flight. Aircraft like Centaur serve as flying laboratories, allowing teams to conduct repeatable, complex tests of autonomy software with or without a safety pilot onboard.
This work is powered by deep expertise in Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) and perception systems. Aurora engineers create the core capabilities that allow an aircraft to sense its environment, make intelligent decisions, and execute precise maneuvers reliably.
These capabilities are proven across a diverse portfolio. The fast-moving SKIRON-X drone enables rapid algorithm iteration. The Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System (AACUS) successfully transformed a UH-1 helicopter into an aircraft that could autonomously complete an entire mission, from takeoff to payload delivery. Autonomy also de-risks the testing of experimental aircraft, allowing for safer evaluation of novel designs.
Trust remains the central pillar. Aurora’s human-centric process begins in the lab, using biometrics and simulations to design systems that collaborate intuitively with pilots. Technology matures in high-fidelity hardware-in-the-loop simulators before graduating to controlled flight tests, often overseen from ground control stations. The result is not about replacing the pilot, but creating a synergistic team—where human judgment is augmented by autonomous precision for safer, more capable missions.
