In 2019 the University of Stuttgart has received financial support from the Ministry of Economy, Employment and Housing (corresponding to today’s Ministry for Economy, Employment and Tourism) of Baden-Württemberg with the objective of establishing a research base with the partners Fraunhofer Society [Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft] and Forum LR BW e. V. and also with further subcontractors like Volocopter, Thales and Droniq.
The project is lead by the Institute for Flight Mechanics and Automatic Control and it is being supported by the Institutes for Aircraft Construction, Aviation Systems and Navigation at faculty 6 of the University of Stuttgart.
In order to operate the research base after the expiry of the funding period (year-end 2022) the association AREA BW has been founded. It will then continue to run the project by its own efforts and by doing so it will sustainably ensure the attractiveness of the state of Baden-Württemberg as a centre of research for autonomous, electric and energy-efficient aviation.