The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that the first of six test sites for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) research will begin operations in May, around 2.5 months ahead of schedule.
The FAA granted the North Dakota Department of Commerce a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) to commence using a Draganflyer X4ES small UAS at its Northern Plains Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site.
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The COA will be effective for two years, with the team scheduled to begin flight operations during the week of 5 May.
Initial flights to be conducted over North Dakota State University’s Carrington Research Extension Center, with the second set of flights scheduled for summer this year and due to be conducted over Sullys Hill National Game Preserve near Devils Lake.
US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said North Dakota has a leader in supporting the growing unmanned aircraft industry.
"We look forward to the contributions they and the other test sites will make toward our efforts to ensure the safe and efficient integration of UAS into our nation’s skies," Foxx said.
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By GlobalDataInitially, site operations will focus on proving that UAS can check soil quality and the status of crops in support of North Dakota State University/Extension Service precision agriculture research studies.
In addition, through extending support to the precision agriculture programme, the Northern Plains Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site will collect safety-related operational data that is required for UAS airspace integration.
This data will help the FAA analyse current processes for setting up small UAS airworthiness and system maturity; maintenance data gathered during site operations will support a prototype database for UAS maintenance and repair.
FAA administrator Michael Huerta said this data will lay the groundwork for reducing risks and ensuring continued safe operations of UAS.
"We believe the test site programmes will be extremely valuable to integrating unmanned aircraft and fostering America’s leadership in advancing this technology," Huerta said.
On 30 December 2013, the FAA selected six congressionally mandated test sites to guide their research programmes to help the FAA safely integrate UAS into the national airspace over the next several years.
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