Facilitating the Dawn of BVLOS Operations

NASA and Bigfork, Montana-based aerospace technology concern uAvionix have signed a Space Act Agreement by which the two entities will co-develop advanced Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Command and Control (C2) technologies germane to Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in urban environments.

In accordance with the agreement’s provisions, NASA and uAvionix will jointly engage in research & development conducive to the establishment of commercial UAS C2 systems utilizing internet-based infrastructure and air traffic control frequencies.

NASA researchers will conduct flight-testing at the UAS Flight Test Range at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Flight data will be generated and evaluated on the uAvionix SkyLine C2 technology under the High Density Vertiplex (HDV) project.

HDV technical lead Jacob Schaefer stated: “The HDV project is excited to partner with uAvionix to support the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) mission. C2 technologies are critical to achieve the advanced flight operations envisioned within the future of AAM.”

The NASA/uAvionix partnership and associated technical work exemplify the space agency’s commitment to working with industry for purpose of driving technology and innovation throughout the aerospace sector. Moreover, subject partnership will contribute significantly to the development of remotely-piloted commercial passenger flight operations reliant upon the performance of certified Control and Non-Payload Communications (CNPC) link systems.

uAvionix managing director Christian Ramsey set forth: “uAvionix is proud to partner with NASA on this important project. NASA’s collaboration will help advance the operational application of our skyLink5060 radios, an important step to facilitate AAM, especially passenger carrying vehicles and vertiports that will ultimately require certification.”

Performance and operational standards are currently being tested by numerous manufacturers and operators with use cases ranging from Urban Air Mobility to long-range cargo delivery.

Slated to take place between summer 2023 and summer 2024, flight-testing will vet technologies salient to advanced BVLOS operations.

Founded in 2015 with the mission of advancing the integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the United States’s National Airspace System (NAS), Montana-based uAvionix develops small, light, affordable ADS-B transponders. A fundamental aspect of the company’s mission is the facilitation of common situational awareness to all aircraft within a given airspace. uAvionix provides innovative, low-Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) TSO-certified and uncertified avionics and services to customers in the General Aviation (GA), Defense, and UAS sectors.

FMI: www.uavionix.com