Port San Antonio and Austin-based SkyGrid partner on vertiport planning and autonomous airspace operations

Partnership centers on infrastructure and airspace data, not aircraft manufacturing

Port San Antonio has signed a three-year memorandum of understanding with SkyGrid LLC, an Austin-headquartered aviation technology firm that operates as a subsidiary of Wisk Aero and is part of Boeing’s corporate structure. The agreement is intended to help shape the infrastructure, airspace planning and operational concepts needed to support advanced air mobility—an emerging category that includes electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) and other next-generation, potentially autonomous aircraft.

The collaboration focuses on identifying technical and regulatory barriers that could limit scaled operations for both crewed and uncrewed aircraft systems. The work is tied to Port San Antonio’s ongoing development of a vertiport complex near Kelly Field, where the airfield environment includes civil, commercial and military activity—conditions that planners view as useful for testing integration concepts.

What the agreement covers

The memorandum outlines a broad set of potential activities aimed at building a framework for safe operations in shared airspace. SkyGrid’s core role is to develop and integrate systems that can create a high-fidelity digital picture of the operating environment by combining information from sources such as radar, sensors and aircraft transponders.

• Identifying technology and regulatory gaps affecting scaled advanced air mobility operations
• Planning and designing air routes and operational concepts for local and regional use cases
• Evaluating how automated systems could support traffic management in localized airspace
• Assessing cybersecurity requirements and cyber-resiliency for joint-use airfields
• Exploring integration approaches with air traffic control and applicable safety cases

Vertiport site work and funding details

Port San Antonio has described its vertiport development as part of a broader modernization effort at Kelly Field. Work underway includes utility changes and site preparation across a large tract intended for a future terminal and vertiport complex. As part of obstacle mitigation for future flight operations, power lines along the perimeter are being placed underground.

The Port has reported investments for the project that combine its own funding with state and federal support. Separately, the Port has pursued route-planning work to evaluate how aircraft could connect the Tech Port campus to destinations across San Antonio and, longer term, to the Austin region.

Timeline remains uncertain as certification evolves

While vertiport construction and planning are moving forward, the start of routine eVTOL operations is not yet fixed. Several aircraft designs associated with the most visible passenger air taxi concepts remain in federal certification processes. In the nearer term, more conventional hybrid-electric aircraft could be positioned to begin testing earlier than fully autonomous passenger models.

The agreement is designed to produce practical roadmaps for operating in complex, shared airspace—linking infrastructure readiness, digital airspace awareness and cybersecurity with evolving regulatory requirements.

How the local project fits a larger Texas aviation push

The Port’s collaboration with SkyGrid is unfolding as Texas expands its role in testing and integrating emerging aviation technologies. In 2025, the Federal Aviation Administration selected the Texas A&M University System to lead the agency’s Center for Advanced Aviation Technologies, a research-and-testing initiative created under the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. The center is expected to support work on advanced aviation concepts, including advanced air mobility, through laboratories, flight demonstration zones and testing corridors.

For Port San Antonio, the near-term objective is to use the Kelly Field environment to help validate how advanced aircraft—crewed and uncrewed—could operate safely alongside existing aviation activity, with data-driven airspace management serving as a foundational requirement.