Airspace
Airspace
AUVSI Statement on Announcement of Presidential Memorandum for UAS Integration Pilot Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 25, 2017
Contact: Tom McMahon, tmcmahon@auvsi.org, (571) 255-7786
Marke F. 'Hoot' Gibson named new CEO of NUAIR Alliance
Major General Marke F. “Hoot” Gibson (ret), who most recently served as Senior Advisor on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration to the Deputy Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has been named the new CEO of the NUAIR Alliance.
As CEO, Gibson, who will begin working in his new role on Nov. 13, will lead NUAIR’s oversight of UAS testing being conducted in New York, Massachusetts and Michigan, as well as a $30 million investment by New York State to build a 50-mile UTM Corridor.
“My vision is to create an unsurpassed ‘innovation friendly’ environment for UAS research, testing and operation,” Gibson says.
Skyward to give commercial UAS operators instant access to controlled airspace with LAANC
Skyward, which is a Verizon company, has received approval to give commercial UAS operators instant access to controlled airspace with the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) services from the FAA.
Airspace that previously required the submission of a manual request for authorization will now be accessible for businesses through the LAANC. The approval process will be automated, which will significantly reduce the wait time from months to seconds.
NUAIR Alliance opens evaluation and selection process of vendors for design and installation of Phase II of its BVLOS UTM test corridor
The NUAIR Alliance has opened the evaluation and selection process of vendor(s) for the design and installation of Phase II of its BVLOS Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) test corridor.
Building off of the recently launched Phase I of the corridor around Griffiss International Airport in Rome, New York, the second phase will complete the corridor, which will facilitate testing of UAS platforms and sensors in the airspace between Rome and Syracuse, New York.
Insitu opens new facility in Starkville, Mississippi
According to the Starkville Daily News, Insitu opened its new office in Starkville, Mississippi on Tuesday, Oct. 10.
Headquartered in Bingen, Washington, Insitu will use its new facility, which is located at Mississippi State University's (MSU) Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park, to “work toward flight certification of its vehicles,” with assistance from the MSU Raspet Flight Research Laboratory and the FAA Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE), which MSU manages.
“We’re focused on aircraft certifications within the National Airspace System within the U.S.,” says Insitu President and CEO Ryan Hartman.
Huangling and DJI partner to launch aerial photography base for UAS enthusiasts
Huangling, which is a countryside destination in Wuyuan County, Jiangxi Province, China, has partnered with DJI to launch an aerial photography base in the village.
The airspace around the village will be open to UAS enthusiasts, giving them the opportunity to use their systems for video-taking and photography purposes.
“We are thrilled to work with DJI to give visitors an exciting new way to view and appreciate the beauty of Huangling,” says Wu Xiangyang, CEO of Wuyuan Rural Culture Development Co., Ltd.
First part of 50-mile UTM corridor in New York launches
The first part of the 50-mile Unmanned Traffic Management Corridor in New York has launched.
The corridor now consists of a five-mile circle around Griffiss International Airport. That part of the corridor is equipped with special sensors and radars that can detect small UAS flying at very low altitudes, which is a feature that is not included in traditional radars around airports.
Using $30 million in state funding, the corridor will be expanded next year into a “50-mile-long air space” stretching from Rome to Syracuse, according to Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (NUAIR) President and CEO Larry Brinker.
UAS integration seen posing challenges for air traffic management
The integration of unmanned aircraft systems into national airspaces worldwide will have profound implications for air traffic control systems, which need to be modernized even as this new challenge arises.
Several speakers at the Second Global Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems Symposium, sponsored by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal, addressed these issues on the third and final day of the conference.
Robert Stallard, of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations (IFATCA), said air traffic management systems are still working with technology developed in the 1950s and 1960s.
A digital revolution has occurred in the world, but “we’ve not had our digital revolution yet,” he said.
University of Colorado engineers develop new UAS swarming technology
A team of University of Colorado (CU) engineers has developed a new UAS swarming technology that allows multiple UAS to be controlled at the same time by a single operator.
In collaboration with the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, the CU team tested this new technology at the Pawnee National Grassland in Weld County, Colorado for three weeks in August.
According to the DailyCamera.com, this project was granted the “first-ever approval by the Federal Aviation Administration to allow multiple aircraft to be manned by a single pilot.”