Airbus launches drone services startup company, Airbus Aerial

Airbus on Thursday announced the launch of Airbus Aerial, a new commercial drone startup company in Atlanta which will serve as the company’s U.S. base of operations.

Airbus Aerial will begin operations with imagery services that combine drone and satellite images and uses software to offer deeper insights to commercial customers. The new company will be headed by Jesse Kallman, president of Airbus Aerial U.S.

“Drones are only a piece of a much larger picture for us,” Kallman said. “Airbus Aerial brings together a variety of aerospace technologies—including drones and satellites—combines them in a common software infrastructure, and applies industry-specific analytics to deliver tailored solutions to our customers’ biggest challenges.”

According to Airbus, the new company’s imagery services targets a range of applications for commercial industries, such as insurance, agriculture, oil and gas, and utilities, as well as state and local governments.

With offices in Europe and the U.S., Airbus Aerial’s initial focus will be on developing new imagery services to leverage software and aerospace technology from around the world to offer actionable data and analysis of information provided by drones, satellites, high altitude aircraft and other sources.

Dirk Hoke, CEO of Airbus Defense and Space, said the new company is uniquely positioned to advance the commercial UAS industry. It will bring together partners that include vehicle manufacturers, data analytics companies, services providers and others to enable large-scale, data-focused services.

“Using an integrated combination of assets, from UAS platforms to satellite imagery, Airbus Aerial is rolling out a wide range of new imagery services,” Hoke said. “In the future, additional pillars of the Airbus Aerial activities will be in the area of cargo drone services as well as providing connectivity via aerial assets.”

Airbus said recruitment has begun for positions in software development, data analytics and drone operations, among others. Airbus also said the startup is looking for new partnerships to help bring its new services to market.