Has Obtained All Necessary FAA Approvals To Offer The Service

ATA has partnered with Harris Corporation to provide safety-critical aerospace management solutions for the fast-growing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry. Under the arrangement, ATA and Harris jointly developed LAANC and obtained all FAA-required approvals to offer the service.

LAANC enables drone operators and manned aircraft to share controlled airspace by automating the application and approval process for airspace authorizations. Requests are checked against multiple FAA and National Airspace System (NAS) data sources. If approved, pilots receive their authorization via LAANC in near-real time.

Drone pilots operating under the Small UAS Rule Part 107 who want to fly in controlled airspace around airports are already required to obtain prior FAA authorizations, either through LAANC or by directly contacting the FAA. Beginning in September, all drone operators, including hobbyists, will be required to file using LAANC.

The ATA-Harris LAANC has all the functionalities required by the FAA but also incorporates unique features, such as free-form drawing, which gives pilots the flexibility to define desired operational areas. This creates efficient flight plans that minimize the use of airspace to facilitate FAA approvals.

The LAANC application has been in limited operational testing since Harris became an approved USS in July 2018, but it is now broadly available to new beta customers.

ATA is focused on leveraging advanced data science capabilities in geospatial analysis, semantic integration and automation to address the data-intensive elements of operating drones for commercial and public use. “Combined with our strong background in manned aviation, understanding of complex communications protocols and partnership with Harris, we’ve created the most advanced and easy to use LAANC application,” said Craig Parisot, CEO, ATA, LLC.

George Kirov, vice president and general manager, Commercial UAS Solutions, Harris Electronic Systems, said the LAANC application adds to Harris’ industry leading portfolio of solutions for surveillance, detect-and-avoid (DAA) and command and control (C2), which enable an integrated airspace for manned and unmanned aviation. “By partnering with ATA, we offer a single platform from a credible aviation technology vendor, where UAS pilots can plan and execute complex operations safely and efficiently,” Kirov said.

(Source: ATA news release)

FMI: www.ata-llc.com/us