Robert Rose & Juerg Frefel
Founders
Transportation & Mobility
Reliable Robotics
Reliable Robotics was launched in 2017 by SpaceX and Tesla veterans, Robert Rose and Juerg Frefel, to enhance aviation safety with remotely operated aircraft.
Reliable made aviation history in 2019 by remotely piloting a Cessna 172 with no one on board over a populated region in Northern California, and subsequently remotely flying a popular cargo plane, the Cessna 208 Caravan from a control center inside company headquarters 50 miles away from the aircraft in 2021. The team has designed and built a remotely operated aircraft system that can be adapted to various airframes. Reliable’s accomplishments were selected as a Collier Trophy finalist for 2020’s greatest achievements in aeronautics or astronautics in the United States.
Recent Federal Aviation Administration acceptance of the certification basis for the advanced navigation and autoflight system outlines a path to improve safety by enabling continuous autopilot engagement through all phases of aircraft operation, including taxi, takeoff, cruise, landing, braking and rollout, with a single pilot on board for abnormal procedures. This milestone marks an important step in Reliable’s phased certification approach.
Reliable’s vision is to transform the way we move goods and people around the planet with safer, more convenient and more affordable air transportation.
Eclipse Carbon Optimization Framework
Reliable Robotics, which is developing safety-enhancing technologies that will prevent many common causes of fatal aviation accidents and save lives, resulting in 2.2 MMtCO2e in emissions reduction by 2040.