A campus police officer in Lakeland, Florida, may soon patrol from the air in a single-seat electric aircraft. Florida Polytechnic University announced on October 20, 2026, that its police department had unveiled Astro, a Jetson ONE eVTOL, claiming the title of first law-enforcement agency in the United States to plan operational use of a manned electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle. Final FAA approval had not yet been granted at the time of the announcement.
What Astro Actually Is
The aircraft is a single-seat, open-cockpit machine built by California-based Jetson, purchased by Florida Poly for just under $150,000.
Astro is built from aluminum and controlled by eight rotors and a joystick. Its electric motors produce roughly 102 horsepower combined, enough to reach a top speed of 63 mph.
Flight time runs approximately 20 minutes per charge, and higher speeds reduce that window further…