, a drone and Advanced Air Mobility technology provider headquartered in Japan, has announced an investment in Aloft Technologies , a company focusing on developing UTM, and a provider of drone fleet and airspace management in the United States.
This investment makes Terra Drone the largest shareholder in Aloft, with Aloft becoming an affiliate company of Terra Drone. In addition, the board of directors of Aloft has appointed Yuki Ueno, Terra Drone’s executive officer in charge of domestic and international Unmanned Aerial System Traffic Management business, to the Aloft board.
This partnership also marks Terra Drone’s official entry into the US, which is considered the world’s largest market for drones and AAMs. Together with Aloft and Unifly, a Belgium-based UTM provider that became a Terra Drone subsidiary in July 2023, Terra Drone is positioned to contribute to the development of the UTM ecosystem on a global scale.
Toru Tokushige, Founder and CEO of Terra Drone, says,
“We see a future where drones and AAMs become a part of our daily lives. The implementation and seamless operation of a UTM system are essential to make this dream a reality. We have been focusing on UTM technology since the dawn of drones, with our earliest investment in Unifly dating back to 2016. Now, as drones and AAMs move into a new phase of development, UTM has become a priority for aviation authorities around the world. By investing in Aloft and becoming its largest shareholder, we intend to further evolve UTM on a global level. We also plan to expand aggressively in the U.S., considered to be the largest market for drones and AAMs.”
“The integration of UTM systems is pivotal for the expansion, scalability, and sustainability of global drone operations,” stated Jon Hegranes, Founder and CEO of Aloft. “Our collaboration with Terra Drone positions us at the forefront of this evolution, offering us the unique opportunity to harmonize operational standards and leverage technology to enhance the efficiency and reach of drone flights on an international scale.”
Compared to Japan, there are approximately 2.4 times as many registered drones and 62 times as many registered manned aircraft in the U.S. (Figure 1). Additionally, a number of U.S. companies are developing and manufacturing drones and UAMs. In July 2023, the FAA released an implementation plan “Innovate 2028” providing the steps it and others will need to take to safely enable advanced air mobility operations in the near term.
Aloft was founded in 2015. With investments from commercial aircraft and space equipment manufacturer Boeing’s Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) and Travelers Insurance, one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S., Aloft is a leading supplier of Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) certified UAS services, powering over 84% of all airspace authorizations as of October in 2022 (*1), and last year announced that it had surpassed 1 million Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) requests (*2).
Aloft also provides a cloud-based drone fleet management system (*3) that enables centralized management of aircraft and pilot information. The solution supports complete drone operations, efficiently managing workflows from pre-flight to post-flight, and achieving automation and compliance. Other key features of the solution include aircraft and asset management, real-time live video sharing, and two-way voice communication. Every major industry has adopted the Aloft platform for mission critical drone operations management, including energy, utilities, oil and gas, media, construction, insurance, and public safety. Moreover, Aloft is SOC2 Type II and ISO 27001 certified for security.
Development of a global UTM system has taken on increased urgency as the number of low-altitude aircraft such as drones, vertical takeoff and landing craft and short-hop air taxis grows. They typically occupy altitudes far below commercial aircraft at 4,000 feet and lower.
“Above populated areas there are loads of restrictions to secure safety,” said Yuki Ueno, executive officer at Terra Drone in an interview. “But if we have such a system like UTM it not only gives us the opportunity to do beyond visual line of sight or flying in a bit more high risk areas that all can be more digitized and automated and managed properly by UTM. Then it allows like more congested flights and more relevant, repetitive or more dense flights in a safe and efficient way. But without UTM we can’t do that.”
Yuki Ueno, executive officer at Terra Drone
Ueno, who also joins the Aloft board of directors under this new deal, notes with companies such as Joby and Archer Aviation planning to launch advance air mobility, or AAM, services to coincide with the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, development of UTM becomes even more urgent.
Aloft previously secured investments from Boeing’s Corporate Venture Capital and Travelers Insurance and is a top provider of Federal Aviation Administration-certified umanned aircraft system services.
It’s that sort of expertise that led Terra Drone to invest in Aloft and make it an affiliate company,
“Aloft has over 80% share in the market, which is quite dominant, I would say,” explained Ueno. “It’s not a big company. It’s like only maybe 15 people or so, but it’s a really solid and focused company and we believe the founders are really visionary people.”
The investment in Aloft is in line with Terra Drone’s ultimate goal of creating a global UTM system, in large part, by aligning with companies specializing in the technology.
Developing a UTM is an important adjunct to Terra Drone’s other major activities.
“We started doing UTM back in 2016,” said Ueno. “We also did a lot of other industry verticals like providing drone-based solutions such as surveying or inspections, serving for instance, the oil and gas major companies worldwide, the largest energy company in Japan and also the largest energy company in the world. Aramco is our shareholder and client.”
It’s all been lucrative for Terra Drone, one of the top two drone service operators in the world, but the company had yet to crack the U.S. market—a long time goal now reached by finding the right partner.
Based on FAA figures, there are currently about 2.4 times as many registered drones and 62 times as many registered manned aircraft in the U.S. than in Japan, with the expectations of further growth within the next four years.
“It’s really one of the largest markets in the world. That’s why we always wanted to go into the U.S. market,” said Ueno.
Sources for Figure 1:Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), “Drones by the Numbers“Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), “General Aviation and Part 135 Activity Surveys”Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, “Status of Study on Next Generation Aerial Mobility”Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, “Number of Registered Aircraft”
Sources: Press Release; Forbes