Air taxis? A spaceport? Utah is making moves — and spending millions — for a futuristic vision

This story was originally published by Utah News Dispatch.

Flying in a vertical-lift aircraft is a “fascinating feeling,” Kyle Clark, the founder of a leading air taxi manufacturing company based in Vermont, told a room full of dignitaries at the Utah Capitol on Tuesday.

“You take off like a helicopter, and there’s a whooshing sound,” the BETA Technologies founder and CEO said. “It’s not a beating sound, because all four propellers are turning at different speeds. Then you swing into the air, you turn that rear propeller on, you accelerate for about 30 seconds, and then you shut it down. Everything goes silent.” 

As a pilot that’s flown lots of different aircraft, Clark said shifting from vertical lift off to a glide feels a bit jarring. 

“You’re like, ‘Uh oh. All that noise was keeping me in the air. Now what’s keeping me in the air?’ The wind’s keeping you in the air,” he said. 

As the aircraft begins soaring, Clark said the only noise is a low “hum” of a rear propeller located 22 feet at the back of the aircraft. He then described looking through a “beautiful glass canopy in front of you.” 

“Look at this view out here in Utah,” he said, gesturing out the window to Utah’s Wasatch mountain range. “It’s going to be awesome flying out here.” 

Clark’s description sparked a smattering of excited murmurs in the crowd at an event that drew the attendance of several Utah lawmakers and Gov. Spencer Cox. They were there for the signing of an agreement between Clark’s company and the group 47G, formerly known as the Utah Aerospace and Defense Association, a network of over 120 aerospace, defense and cyber companies, and 20 academic institutions working to innovate in the three sectors. 

The deal signed this week lays the groundwork to bring electric aircraft and the charging station network they’d rely on to Utah, envisioned as a Jetsons-like air delivery system that will start with moving packages before — eventually — people. 

It’s also part of a larger effort brewing in the Utah Legislature to explore — and invest at least $1 million more in — futuristic technologies, including work to explore siting a spaceport somewhere in the state. 

The event took place one day before the deadly collision Wednesday night between a regional passenger jet and a military helicopter in the crowded airspace around Reagan National Airport just outside Washington, D.C., a tragedy that’s sure to prompt a national conversation about air safety in coming weeks.

Electrified Aircraft, Delivery Drones and — Eventually — Air Taxis

“Today, with this MOU signing, we are going where no other state has gone before. To the top of the list in air mobility,” said Aaron Starks, 47G president and CEO. “We are going to electrify airports, we are going to bring the community together, there will be workforce development opportunities and legislative opportunities … where companies like BETA Technologies can come and innovate and grow their technologies.” 

While the agreement with BETA Technologies will start with electrifying conventional take-off and landing aircraft by focusing on existing airports, Starks said “this is only the beginning.” 

“Imagine being in Moab in 40 minutes,” he said. “Imagine living in Huntsville or Logan, where I grew up, and being able to fly to Salt Lake in 16 minutes, while still living in beautiful Cache Valley or Ogden Valley. That’s the reality, and it’s here.”

Starks said over the next 12 to 18 months, in partnership with the Utah Department of Transportation, 47G will prioritize electrifying existing municipal and regional airports, with airports in Ogden, Salt Lake City and Provo “high on the list.” 

He said they’ll first focus on “conventional take-off and landing” aircraft at existing airports. “But urban air mobility, the movement of people in cities, that will all come eventually,” he said. 

Leaders characterized it as a big leap toward creating a futuristic statewide transportation in anticipation of the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. 

“Under this agreement, the parties will collaborate on a series of initiatives with the objective of making Utah the nation’s premier ecosystem for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) — a form of transport that relies on next-generation technologies to increase access and efficiency, while lowering cost,” a says summary of the agreement issued by 47G.

The deal comes after Utah leaders last year launched an initiative called Project Alta, a partnership that joined 47G with the Utah governor’s office, the Utah Department of Transportation, the Utah Inland Port Authority and other industry partners with a mission to establish an “advanced air mobility” system for Utah. 

Last year, the Utah Legislature appropriated $1.14 million toward the effort. More could be coming this year.

The governor included $2 million in his budget recommendation for aircraft charging stations. If the Utah Legislature approves that recommendation, the Utah Department of Transportation would oversee a competitive bid process to select a company that can provide charging stations for certain airports across the state. 

Starks told Utah News Dispatch that 47G does intend to request more public dollars from the 2025 Utah Legislature to help support the initiative — though he said negotiations hadn’t yet landed on a specific number. 

“We are seeking more. Now, this is work that’s important to the state’s economy. So the state is subcontracting that work out to us,” Starks said. “It’s economic development. And who better than the industry to go out and build the industry and those long-term economic initiatives in partnership with the state?” 

Any additional money that 47G is seeking, Starks said, would be used to fund “personnel to continue running surveys, the economic analysis, to fund travel, to fund project management, and ultimately to partnership with UDOT to determine where the charging infrastructure goes.” 

“You know, we’re bringing a whole emerging industry to the state, and that requires a lot of resources,” Starks said. 

According to Morgan Stanley researchers, the advanced air mobility market is projected to reach a value of $1.5 trillion by 2040. In Utah, the industry is forecasted to generate 11,000 new full-time jobs, $8 billion in new business activity and related stimulus, and $1.8 billion in local, state and federal tax revenues by 2045, according to 47G. 

$1 Million for ‘Spaceport Exploration’

Advanced, electrified aircraft like air taxis aren’t the only futuristic ideas Utah leaders are moving to invest in. A separate piece of legislation has been making its way through the 2025 Utah Legislature with enthusiasm and little resistance. 

With SB62, Senate Budget Chair Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, wants the Utah Legislature to set aside $1 million to create a new body called the Spaceport Exploration Committee that would be tasked with setting “key objectives” the state would need to pursue in order to establish a spaceport, study its feasibility and evaluate potential sites. 

The Utah Senate on Tuesday voted 27-1 to approve the bill. It now awaits consideration in the House.

A spaceport would basically act as an airport for spacecraft, potentially not just for the military, but also for “space exploration” or “space mining,” Stevenson said.

He said it could also tie into a vision of “lifting people from pad to pad during the Olympics” in 2034. So while the effort to site a spaceport in Utah is separate from 47G’s work to create an advanced air mobility system, it’s related.

“It’d be pretty cool to ride your air taxi to your spaceship,” Stevenson said jokingly in a recent Senate media availability. 

Though he acknowledged, “this all ties together,” adding that if the full Utah Legislature approves SB62, the Spaceport Exploration Committee would work “to answer a lot of questions, maybe even outside of the realm we’re thinking in right now as we put this together.” 

“This is broad, and I think when this will be a lot of fun is when we get this committee formed and we start getting input from all of the different players, including air taxis,” Stevenson said. 

Asked why it’s worth devoting as much as $1 million in state dollars now toward this effort, Stevenson said it’s for “economic development.” 

“This is the future. And Utah better be prepared,” Stevenson said. “We can either watch this happen, or we can make it happen, and that’s why it demands the funding it does.” 

Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, said with Utah expecting to host the Olympics in 2034, “we need to be out in front of the world.” 

“We need to be cutting edge, and we need to be ready,” McKell said. “If we don’t think air taxis are going to be part of the Olympics, I mean, of course it’s going to be. It’s going to be incredible. So we need to be ready, we need to be cutting edge, and we need to be ahead of other states.” 

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor McKenzie Romero for questions: info@utahnewsdispatch.com.