Uber poised to work with NASA over flying taxis

Taxi app and tech firm Uber never leaves the headlines much and today’s offering is certainly eye-catching.

It has struck a deal with the US space agency NASA on flying cars.

It comes hot on the heels of news yesterday, which showed that Alphabet‘s unit Waymo was set to launch a trial of driverless cars  on the public streets of Phoenix, Arizona.

Uber‘s chief product officer Jeff Holden announced at the Web Summit in Lisbon (the same source of the Waymo story) that it would work with the space agency Nasa (the US National Aeronautical and Space Administration) to develop software for managing routes.

Uber envisions a world where there is widespread use of electric, on-demand air taxis  in cities around the globe, but experts have questioned whether it can really take-off.

Uber’s Holden also said the firm aimed to begin testing four-passenger, UberAir flying taxi services across Los Angeles in 2020, its second test market in the US after Dallas.

Private firm Uber is in the middle of legal wrangling and hurdles around the world.

In London, UK it is  fighting to retain its taxi licence after a city regulators removed it over safety concerns.

Story by ProactiveInvestors