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The modification for autonomous flight was carried out in a joint venture with Lockheed Martin, a big American defence contractor.
ECONOMIST: Autonomous helicopters
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Autonomous flight is happening all around us right now.
FORBES: Pilot-Optional Flight Is Closer Than You Think
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But a bigger leap was just announced: The jointly funded Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation and Assessment (ASTRAEA) group in the U.K. is going to begin autonomous flight trials using a 19-seat Jetstream 31 commuter aircraft.
FORBES: Pilot-Optional Flight Is Closer Than You Think
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Technologies being tested in the program include advanced guidance, navigation and control, thermal protection systems, avionics, high temperature structures and seals, conformal reusable insulation, lightweight electromechanical flight systems, and autonomous orbital flight, reentry and landing.
ENGADGET: USAF relaunches its first X-37B on a slightly less mysterious spaceflight
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It's not the miniature robotic space shuttle that NASA's planning to send into orbit this month, but another of the space agency's unmanned vehicles has edged closer to its beginning its mission, with the "nearly autonomous" Global Hawk aircraft having completed a key test flight bright and early on April 2nd.
ENGADGET: NASA's unmanned Global Hawk completes key test flight
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The launch comes on the heels of the successful flight of OTV-2, which made an autonomous landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
ENGADGET: USAF relaunches its first X-37B on a slightly less mysterious spaceflight