Uber to provide data support for NASA's urban air mobility program

(Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] said on Tuesday it signed an agreement with U.S. space agency NASA to explore concepts and technologies needed for passenger and cargo air transportation within an urban area.

This is Uber’s second agreement with the space agency. As part of the pact, the ride-hailing company will share data related to its efforts to build flying taxis in 2020 for the development of NASA’s urban air mobility (UAM) program.

“Using data from Uber, NASA will use its research facility at the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) airport to simulate a small passenger carrying aircraft as it flies through DFW airspace during peak scheduled air traffic, and analyze if these operations would trigger traffic collision advisories,” Uber said in a statement.

Uber on Tuesday also released a new prototype for flying taxies at its annual Elevate Summit.

In November, the company said it was working with NASA to develop a software which could be used to manage flying taxi routes and would work like ride-hailing services that Uber has popularized on the ground.