Aurora

Aurora Flight Sciences designs, builds and flies advanced aircraft and enabling technologies, working across aircraft configurations, autonomous systems, propulsion technologies and manufacturing processes. Its aircraft development work spans experimental and prototype aircraft as well as small and large uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), with applications including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), future mobility and electric propulsion.

The company organizes its activities into four main areas: advanced and uncrewed aircraft; aerosystems manufacturing, in which it applies advanced composites, modular sizing and robotic manufacturing to produce aerospace components, sub-assemblies and complete airframes from prototype through production; research and technology, covering novel aircraft configurations, rapid prototyping, autonomy, electric propulsion and human-machine integration; and flight operations and testing, where it performs simulated and live flight testing using an incremental, safety-first approach.

Key program areas include experimental X- and Y-plane aircraft built to demonstrate new capabilities and methods of operation, space hardware such as qualified pressure relief valves and high-performance composite parts for spacecraft, and autonomy work in human-machine teaming, machine learning and autonomous decision-making.

Business model

Aurora works on programs for government and commercial customers, designing, developing, testing and manufacturing aircraft, aerospace components and enabling technologies to customer requirements, from concept and prototype through production.

Latest developments

Recent company announcements cover the grand opening of a major expansion at its Mississippi manufacturing facility, hybrid-electric flight work presented at Farnborough, and aerospace workforce development activity in Mississippi.