Pioneering the future of flight
INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM
Airbus UpNext focuses on developing future technologies at speeds well beyond what seems feasible today. This Airbus subsidiary is actively shaping the future of the aerospace industry.
Airbus UpNext uses its demonstrators to develop, evaluate, mature and validate concepts, products and services that will permit potential radical technological breakthroughs. Each demonstrator has a two- to three-year time frame to deliver results. The Airbus subsidiary has three locations in France, Germany and Spain, each contributing to the rapid development and testing of future technologies in scaled applications.
Its mission is:
- To identify disruptive aerospace trends and technology concepts and evaluate their potential as viable products.
- To test real-world applications for emerging aerospace technologies.
- To further accelerate traditional research cycles, developing proof of concept and completing both ground and flight testing with scale and speed.
Optimate
Current projects
The Optimate demonstrator is testing new technologies to support automatic taxiing and enhance pilot assistance at airports. Launched in 2024, the three-year research project combines a wide range of cutting-edge technologies that are being tested onboard an innovative electric truck. A fully automated gate-to-gate mission will eventually be performed on an A350 flight test aircraft.
Auto’Mate
Success stories
This demonstrator develops, adapts and evaluates technologies that enable autonomous air-to-air refuelling in formation flight operations. It consists of flight testing three key technologies – accurate relative navigation, in-flight communication and a cooperative control algorithm – that could contribute to future autonomous air-to-air refuelling.
The latest from Airbus UpNext
In the spotlight
- Press releases Innovation
Airbus and Toshiba to partner on superconductivity research
Airbus UpNext, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Airbus, and Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation (Toshiba), Toshiba Group’s energy arm, will cooperate and mutualise experience on… - Press releases Innovation
Airbus takes superconductivity research for hydrogen-powered aircraft a step further
- Press releases Innovation
New pilot assistance technologies take to the road with Airbus' Optimate demonstrator
- Stories Innovation
Meet Optimate, an extra pair of eyes and ears for pilots
- Stories Innovation
ASCENDing to new heights with cryogenic superconductivity