Photo: NASA
It’s becoming increasingly clear that the future of human cities will be aerial mobility. With our streets gridlocked more often than not, going up seems to be the only solution for growth. The problem is coming up with a sustainable system these flying machines could be integrated into is incredibly difficult.
One of the biggest promoters of the so-called Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) based on drones is NASA. The agency makes no secret of its support for the development of air mobility, and the latest step it took when it comes to this field is as good an example as any.
This week, NASA announced it entered a partnership with The Longbow Group to create flight corridors for AAM drones in the Hampton Roads area in Virginia. That would be the first step that needs to be taken to see if air mobility over cities is a feasible idea.
These beyond visual line-of-sight flight corridors will allow NASA and Longbow to assess the needed infrastructure, the requirements of such a system, and the required data sharing between the parties involved. Data on surveillance radars, meteorological systems, data networks, and command and control communications could also be gathered.
For the task at hand, the two will be using small drones to fill the roles of their future, much larger counterparts. No exact details on the type of drones to be used, or on the exact flight corridors, have been provided yet. NASA, however, did say it will use Raytheon’s and Hampton University’s Skyler radar, mounted in downtown Hampton, as a sense and avoid system. Skyler will work in conjunction with a series of other radar systems currently being installed at the NASA Langley Research Center.
For now, the start date of the test program was not announced. Full details on the initiative, as announced so far, can be found in the press release section below.
This week, NASA announced it entered a partnership with The Longbow Group to create flight corridors for AAM drones in the Hampton Roads area in Virginia. That would be the first step that needs to be taken to see if air mobility over cities is a feasible idea.
These beyond visual line-of-sight flight corridors will allow NASA and Longbow to assess the needed infrastructure, the requirements of such a system, and the required data sharing between the parties involved. Data on surveillance radars, meteorological systems, data networks, and command and control communications could also be gathered.
For the task at hand, the two will be using small drones to fill the roles of their future, much larger counterparts. No exact details on the type of drones to be used, or on the exact flight corridors, have been provided yet. NASA, however, did say it will use Raytheon’s and Hampton University’s Skyler radar, mounted in downtown Hampton, as a sense and avoid system. Skyler will work in conjunction with a series of other radar systems currently being installed at the NASA Langley Research Center.
For now, the start date of the test program was not announced. Full details on the initiative, as announced so far, can be found in the press release section below.
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