Australian aircraft. Australian capability. Ready to grow.
Investor Information
Gap Drone has designed, built and flown ATLAS-C, an Australian long-range uncrewed freight aircraft. With the aircraft proven in flight, we are moving from development to MVP, BVLOS Network development and commercial operations.
Why Gap Drone?
A large, unsolved problem
Regional and remote Australia pays a premium in cost and time for almost everything that has to be freighted in. Road is slow over long distances. Crewed aircraft are costly and need infrastructure. The same is true across much of the world. Long-range, heavy-payload uncrewed freight is a category that has not yet been served.
An aircraft that has flown
ATLAS-C flew on 9 September 2026 and performed better than its design case. Post-flight analysis supports a modelled range of about 1,400 km against a 1,000 km target. The aircraft cruised at 35% thrust on under 3 litres of fuel an hour, was stable without pilot input, and completed its first autonomous cruise.
A deliberate regulatory approach
Many uncrewed and advanced air mobility programs have stalled at certification. ATLAS-C was designed from the outset to sit within an existing category where full type certification is not required, and to be tested in sparsely populated areas where risk to third parties is low, demand is high and current service is highly inefficient or non existant. Flight data now supports design verification with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
A first commercial pathway
Gap Drone is already working with partners to build the initial route network on outback Australia, commercial agreement that service future air freight and logistics, as well as other applications where ATLAS-C excels.
Efficient use of capital
Gap Drone took ATLAS-C from concept to flight in three years, with Australian engineers, manufacturers and research partners, on a fraction of the capital spent by comparable programs.
Sovereign manufacturing
ATLAS-C is designed, engineered and manufactured in Australia. That matters to government and defence customers, and it keeps design authority and know-how inside the company.
Progress to date
2023 - Company founded in Melbourne
2024 - Partnerships formed with iMOVE CRC and Australia Post; one-third scale demonstrator built
2025 - Sub-scale trials completed; detailed design review passed in July; full-scale aircraft completed in November
9 September 2026 - ATLAS-C flies, under manual and then autonomous control, and exceeds its design case
October 2026 - Flight data analysed; design verification with CASA under way
What comes next?
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Build. The first MVP aircraft, followed by the first commercial aircraft.
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Approve. Beyond visual line of sight approval (1000km+) for freight operations.
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Operate. The first commercial routes.
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Scale. More aircraft, more routes and more partners across freight, logistics and regional operations.
Partners and backers
Gap Drone has been funded to date by Australian private investors and industry partners, with support from Australian Government research and industry programs. Our partners include Australia Post, RMIT University and the iMOVE Cooperative Research Centre.
