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Tue 1 Jul 2025
The first uncrewed aircraft traffic management system designed specifically to prevent mid-air collisions between drones has received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval and is now operational.
With drones and air taxis likely to become a prominent feature of our future skies, drone traffic management will be a growing issue.
To avoid drone-on-drone collisions, US research university Virginia Tech has formed the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP), supported by Nasa and the FAA.
MAAP has created a drone traffic management system that enables governments and industry to share data about their flight operations. The aim is that this information will help deconflict drone flights quickly and safely.
John Coggin, MAAP’s associate director, said: “This is a culmination of 10 years of work. The product of this work is that the industry now has a path forward for data-sharing among uncrewed aircraft systems operators, which helps mitigate collision risk between drones.
“Advanced and overlapping drone operations require that companies share data to ensure safety. The industry-governed framework established here helps meet these safety goals and provides a template to scale drone traffic management services in the US and worldwide.”
The traffic management system was put to the test in a real-world scenario for the first time in North Texas during March.
This led to the FAA granting authorisation of drone flights to share the airspace, despite significant operator demand and overlapping drone flight paths.
Chris Rocheleau, FAA administrator, said: “It was a historic first for US aviation. Now we want to move from one-off approvals or exemptions to the predictability of operating by rule for beyond visual line of sight, or BVLOS.
“And when finalised, this rule will provide the UAS [unmanned aircraft system] industry with the regulatory framework it needs.”
MAAP is urging drone operators to undergo an onboarding process to enable them to use this traffic management system framework.
Robert Briggs, MAAP’s chief engineer, said: “Unlike previous efforts I’ve been involved in, it’s not a ‘here is your final report’ and the project is done.
“Here, the traffic management systems are operational and can continue to grow and be used as a model for future implementation around the world.”
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