North Dakota Test Range Sees 1st BVLOS Approval

North Dakota's UAS Networking facility, Vantis, will soon be the home of uAvionix BVLOS operations thanks to initial FAA approval.

The state's interesting UAV test range appears to be shaping up as intended - part sandbox, part testing ground - as more uncrewed aerial vehicle manufacturers head north to develop their systems in the Vantis network. In petitioning the FAA for approval for beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations, uAvionix reportedly "demonstrated...adequate risk mitigations to satisfy required safety standards for the specified operation within the national airspace system."

That approval means North Dakota has once again added to its burgeoning brand as the place to be for UAV testing. They now expect the next phase of the Vantis project to begin this summer as the network increases its provisions for autonomy at longer range. Vantis currently sports wide-ranging ground infrastructure that helps to relay commands between operators and far-flung aircraft. Thales USA, a partner in the Vantis project, helped to provide a system that can host multiple simultaneous BVLOS flights for multiple operators.
 
“Vantis was designed and implemented to serve many drone operators across multiple sectors,” said Trevor Woods, Executive Director at the Northern Plains UAS Test Site. “This first approval is an important milestone for Vantis, as a blueprint for widespread commercial BVLOS enablement.”

“This first-of-its-kind approval for our partners is a critical step that validates our state’s investment and years of work to bring UAS aircraft to commercial sectors in a safe and economic way,” said North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. “Other states are reaching out to us as a national leader in UAS.”
 
“We are incredibly proud to lead the way in North Dakota with our partners from Vantis and Thales,” said Christian Ramsey, uAvionix President. “Being able to demonstrate much of our ecosystem in approved BVLOS flight is a major milestone for our company, our partners, and the broader aviation ecosystem.”
 
“We thank the Federal Aviation Administration for acknowledging that our approach to BVLOS in North Dakota maintains the same safety standards that the agency expects for all users within the national airspace,” said Frank Matus, Director of ATC and Digital Aviation Solutions for the Americas at Thales USA, the state’s infrastructure partner for the Vantis network. “We continue to collaborate with FAA as regulations evolve to ensure that Vantis meets the needs of all stakeholders.”

FMI: www.vantisuas.com