Flying air taxi, drone delivery, supersonic business travel between continents, and an emerging market for space-based research and manufacturing -- these are among the innovations in the vision of scientists and experts in the aerospace industry by 2050.
The new developments were highlighted in What's Next for Aerospace and Defense: A Vision for 2050, a study conducted by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) in partnership with McKinsey &Company and released at the on-going South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals, a platform that gathers innovators and entrepreneurs from across the globe to breed and fund new ideas.
Built on interviews with over 70 industry leaders, Vision 2050 finds that the aerospace and defense industry will continue to be the driving force behind the way the world moves, connects, explores and inspires, and the innovations in aerospace sector will shape the world over the next thirty years.
These experts see a world shaped by the ease and convenience of urban air mobility and widely available autonomous drone delivery, the speed of supersonic air travel, and the promise of emerging markets for resource extraction and manufacturing in space - all underpinned by artificial intelligence and more rigorous, self-evolving, and proactive cyber security defenses, according to the study.
Realizing these interrelated and mutually reinforcing technological innovations will require stakeholders across government and industry to begin investing today in the new capabilities and partnerships needed to build this bright future, the report of the study said.
"For over 100 years, the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry has moved, connected, secured, explored, and inspired the world. From the first time humans took flight to our journey to the Moon and beyond, the industry's innovations and achievements have shaped modern life," said Eric Fanning, president and CEO of AIA.
"As new technologies emerge and evolve, A&D is poised to become even more essential to our daily lives," he said.
He said that it is impossible to perfectly predict how technologies and their uses will develop over 30 years, but these experts have painted a remarkable picture of the potential uses of these technologies; the scientific and technical advancements, regulations, and cultural factors that enable them; and the extent to which they are likely to be a part of everyday lives by 2050.
