Florida Poly unveils Astro, a piloted electric aircraft it calls the nation's first flying police vehicle

Florida Polytechnic University unveiled a single-seat electric aircraft for its police department on Tuesday, Oct. 20, and says the Lakeland campus force is the first law enforcement agency in the country to bring a piloted electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle, or eVTOL, into its operations. The aircraft, named Astro, is still waiting on final approval from the Federal Aviation Administration before it can fly as part of police work.

The university paid just under $150,000 for the vehicle, a Jetson ONE built by Jetson, which the university described as California-based. Florida Poly plans to use it to patrol campus property, reach places patrol cars cannot easily get to and help with recovery after storms.

What Astro is

Astro is an open-cockpit aircraft that carries one person, the pilot. It lifts off vertically on eight electric rotors, is steered with a joystick and has a top speed of about 63 mph, according to coverage of the unveiling. It can stay in the air for roughly 20 minutes on a charge, FOX 13 reported, and flying faster shortens that window.

The manufacturer lists safety features including motor redundancy, which lets the aircraft keep flying if one motor fails, and a ballistic parachute as a last-resort backup. The university says Astro will not fly in rain because of the risk of moisture reaching the battery pack, and pilots will avoid heavy winds.

The name is a nod to the family dog in "The Jetsons," the 1960s cartoon about a family in a flying-car future, and to the science focus of the university.

Astro is a piloted aircraft, not a drone. That sets it apart from the unmanned drones many Florida police and sheriff's agencies already fly, including Florida Poly's own police drone unit.

Why a campus police department wants one

Police Chief Aaron Murray said the department wants to get ahead of a technology that is coming either way. "Advanced air mobility is a technology on the rise, and we can either choose to be proactive or reactive as it develops," Murray said in the university's announcement. "We want to stay at the forefront of this technology and understand how it can be used to advance public safety and airspace safety altogether."

Murray told FOX 13 that Astro is a cost-effective tool that could help officers find missing people, get to areas ground vehicles cannot reach and assist with recovery after storms. The university also lists monitoring campus property and delivering emergency supplies among the planned uses, and the department plans to work with other law enforcement agencies in the region on possible public safety missions, according to WFTV.

Astro carries nothing beyond its pilot and flies for minutes rather than hours, so it is not a substitute for the helicopters some Florida sheriff's offices operate. The university is pitching it instead as a quick, low-cost way to put an officer over a specific spot on or near campus.

Waiting on the FAA

Florida Poly says it is in the final stages of seeking FAA approval to use the vehicle in its police operations. University officials have not said when that will come, though they expect it could be granted between November and late December, FOX 13 reported.

The university expects to operate Astro under restrictions similar to those that apply to unmanned drones, according to coverage of the announcement, but the specific altitude limits and conditions had not been confirmed. Under federal rules, single-seat ultralight vehicles in this class are generally limited to sport and recreational flying, which makes a police agency's use of one a new question for regulators.

The "first in the nation" label is the university's own claim. Coverage of the announcement varied in describing whether the department has become the first to use such a vehicle or plans to be once approval is granted.

Jumping a three-year waiting list

Jetson chief executive Stéphan D'haene said the company moved Florida Poly's order ahead of a three-year waiting list because of the university's science and technology focus and the public safety purpose of the purchase, WUSF reported.

"In our business plan and in alignment with our mission, we have always been looking for the use case beyond the recreational intent," D'haene said in the university's release. "We believe that this project is so important and aligns so much with what we want to do that we made it a priority."

A classroom in the air

For Florida Poly, a public university of science, technology, engineering and math programs in Polk County, Astro is also a teaching tool. The university launched an aerospace engineering degree this fall, and students and faculty plan to use the aircraft's operational data for research and senior design projects, according to WFTV.

"At Florida Poly, we want our students working with emerging technologies before they become commonplace," Provost Brad Thiessen said. "Astro gives our students and faculty a living laboratory where they can analyze real-world data, tackle new engineering challenges and help shape the future of advanced air mobility."

A capstone team of computer science students is training with the aircraft, and mechanical engineering students are using it for hands-on experience, FOX 13 reported. Matt Bohm, chair of the university's mechanical, industrial and aerospace engineering department, said plans include building a digital twin or virtual reality training scenario of the campus to train officers.

Part of Florida's push into air mobility

Astro arrives as Florida tries to position Polk County at the center of advanced air mobility testing. The state's SunTrax facility in nearby Auburndale, a 775-acre testing campus along the Interstate 4 corridor, has expanded from autonomous vehicle testing to include eVTOL aircraft. In March, the FAA and the U.S. Department of Transportation picked a Florida Department of Transportation proposal as one of eight projects in a new federal eVTOL integration pilot program, with testing planned at SunTrax.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said in August that Florida would be actively testing so-called flying cars by the end of the year. The state has announced eVTOL testing partnerships at SunTrax, including one with Eve Air Mobility, and Tampa International Airport has been studying electric air taxis to connect the region.

What's next

Astro cannot fly police missions until the FAA signs off, and the university has not given a firm date. Once it does, the department will have to train pilots and show the aircraft can be useful within its 20-minute flight time and fair-weather limits. In the meantime, Florida Poly students will start collecting data on how it performs, and nearby SunTrax is expected to begin its own federal eVTOL test flights before the end of 2026.