GoAERO and Honeywell announced Honeywell is joining the GoAERO Prize as a strategic partner and sponsor. The GoAERO Prize is a $2-million-plus global competition catalyzing the creation of uncrewed emergency response flyers to perform critical response and rescue missions after natural disasters, medical emergencies, and other crises.
Honeywell is joining other aerospace leaders who are partnering with the GoAERO Prize, such as NASA, Boeing, and RTX, and will serve as a competition judge. Honeywell will also provide participating teams with mentorship, training, lectures, and software from technical experts throughout the duration of the three-year, global competition.
“We’re thrilled to join the GoAERO mission to spur innovation in the aviation and emergency response industry — something that is urgently needed across the world,” said Bob Buddecke, president of electronic solutions at Honeywell. “Our partnership with GoAERO not only supports our commitment to the future of aviation, but it also aligns with our focus on leveraging advanced air mobility for the public good and finding innovative solutions to the industry’s most challenging problems.”
“Since 2019, the U.S. has averaged 22 billion-dollar disasters per year. With FEMA’s disaster workforce only operating at approximately 65 percent capacity, GoAERO is addressing this disparity by creating emergency response technologies that save lives,” said Gwen Lighter, CEO of GoAERO. “GoAERO is always looking to collaborate with companies and organizations who share our vision of advancing aviation technology for the public good. Honeywell is a leading innovator in the aerospace sector, and we are excited to have them join us as a GoAERO partner so that competing teams can benefit from their expertise and support.”
The GoAERO Prize challenges teams of innovators around the world to create a portable, versatile, and autonomy-enabled emergency response flyer that can rescue people in crises and respond to challenges posed by medical emergencies, humanitarian crises, climate change, and natural disasters. The flyer must be capable of delivering first responders, providing emergency supplies, and aiding in humanitarian efforts. During the Final Fly-Off in February 2027, GoAERO and its team of judges will evaluate flyers on productivity, adversity, and maneuvering.
The competition consists of three stages. Stage 1 is the “paper stage,” requiring the digital submission of technical papers. Stage 2 is the building phase, requiring concept validation through a subscale or full-scale flyer. Stage 3 features the Final Fly-Off, during which teams must use their flyers in five real-world emergency response missions.
Teams may still join the competition and compete for over $2 million in prizes by signing up at HeroX.com/GoAERO.
