Nevada’s UAS test site has been selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the UAS Traffic Management (UTM) Technical Capability Level 4 operation, the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) announced on 15 February.
The operation will involve UAS flying in higher-density urban areas for tasks such as newsgathering, package delivery and large-scale contingency mitigation.
Nevada will conduct this NASA demonstration over several months in downtown Reno, Nevada. The NASA UTM operation aims to develop a safe and reliable airspace platform to integrate UAS into the National Airspace System.
Chris Walach, executive/senior director of the FAA-designated Nevada UAS test site, NIAS and the NIAS Unmanned Aviation Safety Center of Excellence, said: ‘We believe UTM is absolutely essential to making the airways safe and deconflicting manned and unmanned aviation.
‘We look forward to testing the latest technology available globally to advance UTM research with NASA Ames, the City of Reno, the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority, Switch, our diverse Nevada UAS industry team, key Nevada stakeholders, and UAS businesses.’
The NASA concept under Nevada’s Smart Silver State theme will lead UTM to an advanced level.
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