NASA Research Announcement on UAS Integration into the National Airspace System

A recent amendment to the NASA Research Announcement (NRA) “Research Opportunities In Aeronautics – 2010” calls for a 5-page White Paper to be submitted by February 25, 2011 as step 1 in a two-step programme. The expected annual programme budget is $7.5M for Year 1 and up to $2M/year in Years 2-5.

The goal of the UAS Integration in the NAS Project is to contribute capabilities that reduce technical barriers related to the safety and operational challenges associated with enabling routine UAS access to the NAS. The desire and ability to fly Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS) is of increasing urgency. The application of unmanned aircraft to perform national security and defence, science, emergency management, as well as future commercial applications are driving the critical need for less restrictive access by UAS to the NAS.

In order for UAS to integrate seamlessly in the NAS, major technical and regulatory challenges must be resolved. Some of the challenges include, but are not limited to:

  • Separation assurance (SA)
  • Robust and secure communications links
  • Radio frequency (RF) spectrum allocation
  • Pilot, air vehicle, and ground control station (GCS) airworthiness standards and certifications
  • Operational requirements for current and future missions

The NASA programme calls for a two-phased approach based on development of system-level integration of key concepts, technologies and/or procedures, and demonstrations of integrated capabilities in an operationally relevant environment.

  • Providing regulators with a methodology for developing airworthiness requirements for UAS, and data to support development of certifications standards and regulatory guidance
  • Providing systems-level, integrated testing of concepts and/or capabilities that address barriers to routine access to the NAS. Through simulation and flight testing, address issues including separation assurance, communications requirements, and Human Systems Integration in operationally relevant environments.

This NRA solicitation is intended to fill key gaps in the current NASA research and technology portfolio by investing in R&D activities in the following technology areas:

  • Modelling and Simulation
  • Separation Assurance and Sense and Avoid
  • Systems Analysis
  • Certification
  • Test Techniques

Step-1 Proposals

should be provided as a PDF proposal document-upload not to exceed five pages including the title page. The five-page, Step-1 Proposal should:

  • Emphasize responsiveness, i.e., identify to which (sub) topics of the solicitation the proposal is responding, clearly indicating how the proposal addresses the call.
  • Describe the proposed research, showing knowledge of previous research carried out by the scientific community in the subject area. Identify what new research aspects are being proposed, as compared to the latest achievements or capabilities on the proposed topic specifically stating how the proposal will advance the state of the art.
  • Indicate whether the research builds on previous research experience by the team or whether it is a new topic for the proposing team.
  • Outline the expected outcomes of the research, identify any proposed deliverables, provide an outlined schedule, and identify the roles and responsibilities of the proposed research team.
  • Provide a rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost estimate for each year of the Step-1 Proposal.

 For full details of the NRA, click here.

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