FAA to set up six drone testing facilities by 2015
If you don’t want a bunch of unmanned aircraft flying around your house testing out their airworthiness and other technologies, the Federal Aviation Administration wants to hear from you.
This week the agency asked for public input on the selection process that will be happening shortly for six unmanned aircraft system (UAS) test sites.
From the FAA: “In order to ensure that all factors are taken into consideration when choosing the six sites, the FAA has asked for comments from the UAS user community and the public at large. Specifically, the request for comment asks for input on several important questions, such as public versus private management of the sites, research activities and capabilities of the test areas, the requirements for test site operators, and the geographic and climate factors that should influence site selection. The feedback will help the FAA design the process and criteria prior to issuing a request for proposals to select UAS test areas that will allow integration of these innovative aircraft into the National Airspace System by 2015. The FAA will accept comments for the next 60 days.”
The UAS pilot program mandates the FAA select six test sites to do the following:
- Safely designate airspace for integrated manned and unmanned flight operations in the national airspace system
- Develop certification standards and air traffic requirements for unmanned flight operations at test ranges
- Coordinate with and leverage the resources of the NASA and the Department of Defense
- Address both civil and public unmanned aircraft systems
- Ensure that the program is coordinated with the Next Generation Air Transportation System
- Ensure the safety of unmanned aircraft systems and related navigation procedures before they are integrated into the national airspace system
Once the pilot program is established, the agency expects it will provide valuable data to help the FAA safely and efficiently integrate UAS into the same airspace with manned airplanes, the FAA stated.
Last month Democratic senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner from Virginia and along with Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland sent a joint letter to the Secretaries of Defense, Transportation and the NASA Administrator touting the Virginia/Maryland region as a strategic place to host one of the nation’s first major Unmanned Aircraft Systems test range.
The passage of the National Defense Authorization Act and FAA Reauthorization Bill, recently by congress requires the Federal Aviation Administration to pick six test ranges for unmanned flight testing and development within 180 days, and incorporate airspace for military, commercial and privately-owned unmanned aircraft by the Fall of 2015.
The Senators pointed out that the area is teaming with existing facilities that could be utilized for such as center – from Maryland’s Naval Air Station Patuxent River which has supported the testing of nearly every type of drone in service today to the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore which has a unmanned aircraft runway, launch range, an aeronautical research airport, hangar space and radar facilities. NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, already conducts advanced joint research on drone systems with the FAA, and adjacent Langley Air Force Base has refined the process of collecting sensor data from drone systems and serves as a key operational hub for the Air Force.
The request for comments, including instructions for filing comments, will be published in the Federal Register on Friday, March 9.
What would you tell them??
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