Near Earth Autonomy
About
About Near Earth Autonomy
Near Earth Autonomy develops onboard pilot systems that let existing and new aircraft execute missions with reduced or no crew. Captain combines mission and vehicle management, contingency handling, obstacle and terrain avoidance, landing-zone evaluation and navigation for helicopters and uncrewed aircraft operating beyond visual line of sight.
The architecture has been integrated across more than 60 aircraft types and accumulated over 11,000 autonomous flights. Current products include compact Firefly sensing and compute modules for confined or shipboard landings, autonomous Bell 505 logistics aircraft and RUC-60 kits that convert UH-60 Black Hawks for optionally piloted cargo missions. Near Earth provides aircraft integration, validation, training, updates and lifecycle support through deployment.
Operations
Orders & commitments
- Order / commitment
2026-03-27 - NAVAIR selected Near Earth Autonomy to develop autonomy for uncrewed ship-to-shore logistics in contested maritime environments. - ship-to-shore autonomy - uncrewed ship-to-shore autonomy contract
Source - Order / commitment
2025-04-29 - The U.S. Army selected Near Earth Autonomy and Honeywell to retrofit UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters with modular autonomy kits for contested logistics. - UH-60L Black Hawk autonomy kits
Source
Supply
Supply chain relationships
- Honeywell Aerospace
Inbound - Avionics - Honeywell Aerospace supplies flight-deck, fly-by-wire and navigation avionics for Near Earth-led autonomous UH-60L Black Hawk retrofit
Source - United States Army
Outbound - Software - Near Earth Autonomy supplies autonomous-flight technology for U.S. Army autonomous Black Hawk logistics retrofit
Source
Funding
- 2021-06-09 - Strategic investment - $10M - Kaman invests USD 10M in Near Earth Autonomy
Kaman invested USD 10 million in Near Earth Autonomy to accelerate autonomous flight systems. - source: kaman.com
Investors
- Kaman - Lead - Unknown - 1 funding event - first seen 2021-06-09
Team
- Sanjiv Singh - CEO and Co-founder - Founder/CEO leadership connects Near Earth's autonomy stack to CMU robotics and uncrewed aircraft commercialization.
- Marcel Bergerman - Co-founder and COO - COO/founder leadership supports Near Earth's operational path from robotics research to autonomous aircraft systems.
Timeline
Events
- 2026-08-12 - Partnership - Near Earth Autonomy and Moog sign cockpit-autonomy integration MOU
The proposed architecture combines Near Earth’s CAPTAIN autonomous-pilot system and RUC aircraft with Moog cockpit displays, communications and controls. The parties target fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, manual-to-autonomous transitions and missions ranging from search and rescue to cargo resupply. The programme builds on prior UH-60L Black Hawk and RUC-60 work and establishes a framework for domestic and international opportunities.
Source - 2026-07-16 - Partnership - Vertical Aerospace and Near Earth sign Valo autonomy MOU
The intended integration would combine Near Earth autonomous-flight products with Valo’s Honeywell Anthem digital cockpit. The parties plan to pursue near-term uncrewed defence opportunities and a longer-term roadmap for increasingly automated commercial operations. The agreement is an MOU and the integration, certification and future commercial use remain forward-looking.
Source - 2026-04-30 - Contract Award - Near Earth Autonomy wins MARV-EL Marine Corps logistics-drone contract
Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Near Earth Autonomy the Medium Aerial Resupply Vehicle – Expeditionary Logistics (MARV-EL) Increment 2 program. The team’s Uncrewed 505 platform pairs Near Earth’s Captain autonomy with the Bell 505 airframe and Moog’s Genesys avionics.
Source - 2026-03-27 - Contract Award - NAVAIR selects Near Earth for uncrewed ship-to-shore autonomy
The program targets GPS-denied and communications-degraded UAS logistics operations. It is a contract-award event tied to NAVAIR and U.S. Marine Corps logistics needs.
Source - 2025-06-17 - Demonstration - Near Earth completes autonomous AW139 flight for USMC ALC
The AW139 flew without an onboard pilot or remote-operator input during the test. The flight advanced Near Earth's autonomous-helicopter programme toward operational deployment.
Source - 2025-04-29 - Contract Award - U.S. Army selects Near Earth and Honeywell for autonomous Black Hawk retrofit
The program retrofits UH-60L helicopters with modular autonomy kits for contested logistics. Honeywell is the named technology partner for advanced flight capabilities.
Source - 2021-06-09 - Funding - Kaman invests USD 10M in Near Earth Autonomy
The minority investment gave Kaman a board seat at Near Earth Autonomy. The collaboration focused on autonomous solutions for next-generation aviation. The capital supports commercial automation and autonomous-system workflows as Kaman moves toward broader commercial use.
Source
Relations
Relationships
- Moog
Technology Partner - Near Earth Autonomy and Moog signed an MOU to integrate CAPTAIN and RUC autonomy with the Genesys Avionics Suite.
- Vertical Aerospace
Valo Aircraft Autonomy Integration Partner - Near Earth Autonomy is linked with Vertical Aerospace through the cited MOU.
- Honeywell International
Autonomy Retrofit Partner - Near Earth Autonomy and Honeywell were selected for the U.S. Army autonomous Black Hawk retrofit program.
- Leonardo
Aw139 Autonomy Platform - Near Earth Autonomy completed an autonomous test flight using a Leonardo AW139 helicopter for the USMC Aerial Logistics Connector program.
- NAVAIR
Autonomy Developer - NAVAIR selected Near Earth Autonomy to develop autonomy for uncrewed ship-to-shore logistics.
- United States Army
Autonomous Black Hawk Customer - The U.S. Army selected Near Earth Autonomy and Honeywell for an autonomous Black Hawk retrofit logistics solution.
Context
Comparable profiles
- High Lander
stack adjacency - Drone Autonomy Platform
- Auterion
stack adjacency - Autonomy Software · Drone Autonomy Platform · Drone Autonomy Software · Autonomous Drone Operations
- Swarmer
stack adjacency - Drone Autonomy Platform · Drone Autonomy Software · Autonomous Drone Operations
- Sensyn Robotics
stack adjacency - Autonomy Software · Drone Autonomy Platform · Autonomous Drone Operations
- Shield AI
stack adjacency - Autonomy Software · Drone Autonomy Platform · Drone Autonomy Software
- Viam
stack adjacency - Autonomy Software
- Applied Intuition
stack adjacency - Autonomy Software
- Fernride
stack adjacency - Autonomy Software
- Kudan
stack adjacency - Autonomy Software
- InOrbit.AI
stack adjacency - Autonomy Software
- SPARC AI
stack adjacency - Autonomy Software Layer · Drone Autonomy Software
- MOVEL AI
stack adjacency - Autonomy Software
Shared workflows
- Exyn
workflow adjacency - GPS Denied Aerial SLAM
- ANELLO Photonics
workflow adjacency - GPS Denied Aerial SLAM
Context tags
- Autonomy software - Stack Layer - Near Earth develops aerial autonomy systems for uncrewed aircraft.
- Drone autonomy platform stack - Stack Layer - Near Earth develops autonomy systems for uncrewed aircraft.
- Autonomous drone operations - Capability - Near Earth enables autonomous takeoff, flight and landing for aircraft.
- Autonomy software layer - Stack Layer - Near Earth Autonomy's robotics role maps to the autonomy software layer stack layer.
- Drone autonomy software - Stack Layer - Near Earth Autonomy's robotics role maps to the drone autonomy software stack layer.
- GPS-denied aerial SLAM - Workflow - Near Earth Autonomy's robotics products or services are relevant to gps-denied aerial slam workflows.
Commercial
- Near Earth Autonomy wins MARV-EL Marine Corps logistics-drone contract
2026-04-30 · Order / contract · Near Earth Autonomy wins NAVAIR's MARV-EL Increment 2 to prototype an autonomous logistics aircraft for the Marine Corps.
Source - NAVAIR selects Near Earth for uncrewed ship-to-shore autonomy
2026-03-27 · Order / contract · NAVAIR selected Near Earth Autonomy to develop autonomy for uncrewed ship-to-shore logistics in contested maritime environments.
Source - U.S. Army selects Near Earth and Honeywell for autonomous Black Hawk retrofit
2025-04-29 · Order / contract · The U.S. Army selected Near Earth Autonomy and Honeywell for a USD 15 million autonomous UH-60L Black Hawk retrofit program.
Source