Recently, Assembly Bill 1439 was introduced in the New York State Assembly with the goal of inserting language related to unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones, into existing state vehicle and traffic laws. The bill’s sponsor is Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, a Democrat from New York’s 129th Assembly District, and AUVSI applauds him for taking this important step.

Today, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has delivered a Final Rule on Remote Identification (ID) for unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Thought of as a digital license plate for drones, the objective of Remote ID is to ensure that a UAS in flight is providing identification and location information that authorities can access. The FAA also released the final rule for Operations Over People, which includes rules for operations at night.  

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) company Wisk is partnering with NASA to focus on the safe integration of autonomous aircraft systems into Urban Air Mobility applications at a national level. The partnership is part of NASA's Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign strategy to develop key guidance for UAM operations. To accelerate U.S. leadership in emerging automated aviation technology, the partnership will also address key challenges such as certification and standards development. Initially, the partnership will address critical National Campaign safety scenarios, with a focus on autonomous flight and contingency management, including collision avoidance and flight path management.

The FAA has selected the New York UAS Test Site at Griffiss International Airport in Rome, New York and the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership in Blacksburg, Virginia to participate in phase two of the unmanned aircraft traffic management pilot program (UPP).