From rockets to flying cars to self-driving taxis, this year should see major milestones as a revolution emerges in how people will move around Earth and in outer space. Food will also become more mobile as GM and DoorDash team up.
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Space Taxis
Since NASA decommissioned the space shuttle program in 2011, U.S. astronauts have had to hitch a ride on Russia's Soyuz capsules. But 2019 might finally be the year that astronauts again reach the International Space Station from U.S. soil.
In 2014, NASA awarded Boeing (BA) a $4.2 billion contract, and SpaceX a $2.6 billion contract to develop spacecraft for missions to the ISS.
SpaceX plans to launch the first uncrewed test flight of its Crew Dragon capsule on Jan. 17. That's delayed from an earlier date of Jan. 7 and an original launch date of December 2016. A crewed test is expected in June if all goes well with the uncrewed test launch.
Boeing plans for an uncrewed test of its Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner capsule in March with a crewed test by August.
But the already delayed launches could be pushed back even further as NASA conducts a review of both space taxi programs. The probe will reportedly cover anything that could impact safety and was initiated over SpaceX and Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk's marijuana use.
Air Taxis, Flying Cars
Closer to Earth, growing congestion in cities has commuters looking for quicker options like ride-sharing apps, bikes and electric scooters. But there just isn't enough space on the ground, so mobility companies, from aerospace giants to automakers, are investing in air taxis.
At first these air taxis won't look like flying cars from the sci-fi realm but electric or hybrid-electric quadcopters. Later iterations will be cars that can drive and then take flight. But analysts at Deloitte don't see that happening until at least 2025.
For now, Boeing is building air taxi prototypes and expects test flights this year. German startup Volocopter is planning tests of its own air taxis in Singapore this year as well.
Elsewhere, 2019 will see other companies ramping up developmental work ahead of demonstrations of air taxis in 2020 and beyond.
Uber has said it's aiming to begin service in several cities, including L.A., by 2023 with early demonstrations set for 2020. The ride-hailing app, which Wall Street expects to go public this year, is working with several companies to build prototypes.
Meanwhile, Airbus (EADSY) is working with Volkswagen's Audi to design a flying car that can drive on the road and take flight. Airbus is separately developing Vahana, an autonomous single-seat aircraft, and CityAirbus, a four-seat aircraft.
Textron's (TXT) Bell is developing a hybrid air taxi that runs on both electricity and conventional fuel to give it a longer range than just battery-powered vehicles.
Robotaxis
If flying cars aren't enough, automakers are set to make 2019 a landmark year for robotaxis, after Alphabet's (GOOGL) Waymo unveiled its self-driving car service last month in Arizona, featuring safety drivers behind the wheel.
General Motors (GM) plans to debut a robotaxi service this year, most likely in San Francisco. That's where GM's Cruise unit has been testing autonomous vehicles. While GM hasn't shared many details publicly, CEO Mary Barra has said the initial robotaxi service will be geographically limited to a small geofenced area.
On Thursday, DoorDash announced a partnership with Cruise in which they will test the first food deliveries using autonomous vehicles in San Francisco starting in March.
Ford (F) expects to expand self-driving car tests to Washington, D.C. this year, after testing robot cars in Pittsburgh, Detroit and Miami for a planned 2021 robotaxi launch. Ford has repeatedly said it's not in a race to be first to bring self-driving vehicles to the public, and that the central challenge is not developing autonomous technology itself, but building the public's trust in driverless vehicles.
Also in 2019, Volkswagen (VWAGY) and chipmaker Intel (INTC) plan to jointly launch a robotaxi service in Israel. Volkswagen will provide the electric vehicles, while Intel-owned Israeli computer vision firm Mobileye will provide the underlying self-driving systems. The companies have said the project is not a pilot, but they expect "full commercialization" of the service to follow in 2022.
Meanwhile, Uber had planned to launch robotaxis by mid-2019, but a fatal self-driving accident last March in Arizona set back that timeline. Now the ride-sharing pioneer plans to soon put its self-driving test cars back on public roads, but it will scale back testing from four cities to Pittsburgh alone. It's partnering with Toyota (TM) to develop self-driving cars.
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The post Space Taxis, Air Taxis, Robotaxis Make 2019 A Pivotal Year In Mobility appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.
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