About us

Who we are and what drives us.

At a Glance

High-tech. Made in Germany.

At our two locations, Hamburg and Bielefeld, we work every day to develop cutting-edge technology for automated industry.

We deliver award-winning drone and mobile robot solutions that automate, connect, and secure operations – 24/7, at any scale.

With our Open Integrated Control Center (Open ICC), we give industry and government the power to manage fleets of drones, vehicles, robots, and IoT devices across multiple locations – fully automated and centrally controlled.

We design and build advanced drone hardware and autonomous mobile robots for BVLOS operations in surveying, inspection, delivery, and surveillance.

And we make shared airspace work – seamlessly coordinating drones with manned aviation through cutting-edge U-space automation software.

Milestones

Our Story: From Vision to Impact

We are continuously engaged in exciting research and development projects with our partners and customers as well as various research institutions – focusing on transparent, honest and long-lasting partnerships.

Jul 2018 – Founding of HHLA Sky GmbH

Founded in the heart of Hamburg with the vision of revolutionising the B2B drone market.

Feb 2019 – Development Start ICC

Start of the development phase of cutting-edge Integrated Control Center (ICC) for automated and scalable drone operations.

Apr 2020 – Market launch of the ICC

Release of the innovative software solution after an intensive development phase.

Aug 2022 – Cybersecurity certification for ICC

As the first of its kind the ICC has been certified in accordance with the IEC 62443 by TÜV Nord.

May 2023 – Launch of the X4

Release of the X4 First Responder drone for security and surveillance use cases.

Oct 2024 – First Drone Base Station

Installation of the first All Sky drone base station in the port of Hamburg.

Jan 2025 – Merger with Third Element Aviation

After years of partnership HHLA Sky merged with Third Element Aviation to combine supplementary forces.

Current projects

We are continuously engaged in exciting research and development projects with our partners and customers as well as various research institutions – focusing on transparent, honest and long-lasting partnerships.

RADIKAL

RADIKAL explores how radar and AI-driven camera systems can improve drone safety. The goal: reliable obstacle detection and secure autonomous landings for next-generation logistics drones.

AI4Drone

In the AI4Drone research project, we explore how artificial intelligence can make drone-based logistics smarter, faster, and more autonomous.

SIDDA

explores how fully automated drone networks can be integrated into existing logistics to enable climate-neutral B2B deliveries.

Vesco

As part of the VESCO project with DanPilot, we are developing an automated drone concept to support ship pilots in Danish ports – with our Auriol ‘Nivi’ already taking off for its first successful demo in Esbjerg.

RIVA 2

In the RIVA project, we’re exploring how multimodal autonomous systems can communicate and operate together in real time – combining land, water and air vehicles under one coordinated control center.

BLU-Space

In BLU-Space, we developed and tested a control system for U-space airspaces. The results form the foundation for national standards and support the global rollout of UTM Control Center technology.