UAM, UTM, NextGen and NAS Integration

NASA and other aviation and transportation companies like Uber and Blade are developing a system of air transport in Urban areas to solve the issues of traffic congestions. While air transportation in urban areas such as the use of helicopters has been around for a while, the focus of research and technological development has been mainly in the development and integration of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). NASA has been involved in the development of safe and efficient air transport and package delivery above populated areas (NASA, 2019).

In order to safely integrate these UAM vehicles and other  unmanned aerial vehicles into the National Airspace System(NAS), NASA has partnered with other UAV developers and the Federal Aviation Authority to develop the UAS Traffic Management System(UTM), with a focus on developing technologies and procedures (NASA, 2019).The bulk of UTM flight tests involve pilots maintaining constant visual contact with the UAS. However, UTM flight research is beginning to fly extended distances. The challenge now is identifying airspace operations requirements to enable safe visual and beyond visual line-of-sight drone flights in low-altitude airspace (FAA, 2019). UTM will also work with FAA’s Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) to establish procedures for effective control of airspace from the surface to 400 ft AGL. The UTM will enable the management of low-altitude uncontrolled UAS operations  (FAA, 2019).

To effectively fly Beyond Line of Vision (BLOV), UAS operating within the NAS will have to be installed detect, sense, and avoid (DSA) systems as per FAA regulations. The DSA systems which includes systems like the Automated Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and Terrain alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) will help UAS meet FAA regulatory requirements for integration into the NAS.