Uber Hires Former NASA Engineer to Drive Flying Car Initiative Forward

Uber this week announced a new installment in its flying car initiative. Former NASA advanced aircraft engineer Mark Moore, who worked for the federal agency for 30 years, has joined Uber as director of engineering for aviation.

The ride-hailing company is laying plans to launch a new service called Uber Elevate, which will utilize vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft to deliver on-demand air taxis in urban areas.

“I can’t think of another company in a stronger position to be the leader for this new ecosystem and make the urban electric VTOL market real,” Moore said.

Uber has not released plans to develop electric VTOL aircraft. Rather, the company wants to serve as a catalyst to enable on-demand electric VTOL air travel in cities around the world. The company outlined its ambitious vision in a whitepaper released in October, which Moore reviewed.

“Uber continues to see its role as an accelerant-catalyst to the entire ecosystem,” Nikhil Goel, Uber’s head of product for advanced programs, said in a statement to Bloomberg. “ … We are excited to have Mark joining us to work with manufacturers and stakeholders as we continue to explore the use case described in our whitepaper.”