Near Earth Autonomy

Near Earth Autonomy develops autonomous flight systems for aircraft and drones. Its technology supports GPS-denied navigation, perception and autonomy functions for aerial platforms operating in complex environments.

Market context

Near Earth Autonomy supplies autonomy systems for drones and aircraft operating in complex or GPS-denied environments.

Facts

Website: https://www.nearearth.aero/
HQ: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Founded: 2013
Segment: autonomy software
Known funding rounds: 1

Funding

2021-06-09 - Strategic investment - $10M - Kaman invests USD 10M in Near Earth Autonomy - source: kaman.com

Investors

Kaman - Lead - Unknown - 1 funding event - first seen 2021-06-09

Commercial

2 commercial events; 2 contract awards; latest event 2026-03-27

2026-03-27 - Contract award - NAVAIR selects Near Earth for uncrewed ship-to-shore autonomy - source: insideunmannedsystems.com
2025-04-29 - Contract award - U.S. Army selects Near Earth and Honeywell for autonomous Black Hawk retrofit - source: honeywellaerospace.com

Events

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. The customer-backed award strengthens NAVAIR's position in warehouse automation and materia…
2025-06-17 - Demonstration - Near Earth completes autonomous AW139 flight for USMC ALC - The aircraft flew without onboard pilot or remote-operator input during the test milestone. The flight demonstrated autonomous helicopter operation ahead of operational deployment. The demonstration validates Near Earth's technology in unmanned aircraft, air…
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. The customer-backed award strengthens U.S. Army's position in warehouse automation and mat…
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 co…

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.

Relationships

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.
Honeywell Aerospace Technologies - Autonomy Retrofit Partner - Near Earth Autonomy and Honeywell are teamed on the autonomous Black Hawk logistics retrofit selected by the U.S. Army.

Context tags

Autonomy software - Stack Layer - Near Earth develops aerial autonomy systems for uncrewed aircraft.
Drone autonomy platform - Peer Group - 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.

Customers and deployments

Contract Status - NAVAIR uncrewed ship-to-shore autonomy contract - 2026-03-27 - NAVAIR - maritime logistics autonomy - NAVAIR selected Near Earth Autonomy to develop autonomy for uncrewed ship-to-shore logistics in con…
Customer Order - autonomous Black Hawk retrofit selection - 2025-04-29 - U.S. Army - autonomous helicopter logistics - The U.S. Army selected Near Earth Autonomy and Honeywell to retrofit UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters w…

Near Earth Autonomy canonical Korthos profile