Skyryse

Skyryse is an aviation hardware and software company headquartered in El Segundo, California, that develops SkyOS, described as a universal operating system for flight. SkyOS replaces conventional mechanical flight controls, gauges and switches with an integrated fly-by-wire system built around a single control stick and touchscreen displays, backed by multiple redundant flight computers. The system is not fully autonomous — a pilot remains in command — but it automates the most complex and hazardous phases of flight, including takeoff, hover, landing, engine-out emergency landing, autorotation, zero-visibility landing, envelope protection and emergency management.

The company's first aircraft is Skyryse One, a production helicopter that the company says is capable of automated engine start, pickup, hover, set-down and autorotation initiated by a swipe of a finger. Skyryse markets SkyOS as aircraft-agnostic and applicable across helicopters and fixed-wing airplanes, with additional capabilities including optionally piloted and fully autonomous operation via ground station. Beyond its El Segundo headquarters, labs and manufacturing, Skyryse operates aircraft integration in Hawthorne, California and a flight line in Camarillo, California.

Skyryse is in the late stages of FAA certification: in 2025 the FAA granted final design approval for the SkyOS flight control computers, accepting the complete aircraft-agnostic system architecture, and the company is now conducting FAA for-credit flight testing ahead of full certification.

Founding story

Founder and CEO Mark Groden is an engineer with a Ph.D. in sensor data fusion and more than 60 patents related to aerial vehicle automation. He began pilot training as a teenager and encountered the complexity of flight mechanics and the consequences pilots face when systems fail; that experience of the aviation technology gap led him to found a company focused on flight safety.

Business model

Skyryse develops and sells flight automation hardware and software, integrating its SkyOS system onto existing aircraft platforms and offering its own SkyOS-equipped production helicopter, Skyryse One. It works through integration contracts and partnerships with aircraft operators, OEMs and defense customers.

Traction

Skyryse reports contracts with United Rotorcraft, Air Methods and Mitsubishi Corporation to integrate SkyOS across helicopters and airplanes, and partnerships spanning the U.S. military, law enforcement, private operators and emergency medical and disaster response. The FAA granted final design approval for SkyOS flight control computers in 2025, with formal flight verification remaining before certification.

Latest developments

In February 2026 Skyryse announced a Series C of more than $300 million at a $1.15 billion valuation, described as two times oversubscribed, to fund completion of FAA certification and deployment of SkyOS on additional aircraft, including U.S. military Black Hawk helicopters. The company reported flying SkyOS on a Black Hawk following a 91-day integration, completing an automated pickup, hover and setdown by finger swipe and precision maneuvers with a single control stick. It also announced a partnership with Robinson Helicopter Company for a SkyOS-powered, R66-based uncrewed aircraft system and a universal emergency autoland capability for SkyOS covering both helicopters and airplanes, and was named a winner in Fast Company's 2026 World Changing Ideas Awards.