FAA awards BVLOS systems contract to uAvionix

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded a contract to avionics developer uAvionix to advance the commercial use of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS).

The broad agency announcement (BAA) contract will see uAvionix partner with the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ UAS Test Site. Together, they will develop a fusion of Long Term Evolution (LTE) telecommunications, Iridium satellite communications, and C-Band communications links.

The aim of the project is to offer uninterrupted command and control links in support of long-range UAS flights beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) in challenging terrain. The solution would offer a single concurrent link over multiple channels, controlled by a “link executive manager”, or LEM, operating through the SkyLine cloud-based platform.

The project will involve a number of test flights at the Alaska UAS test site, where achieving path and link diversity is challenging due to limited cellular coverage, high tower installation costs, and mountains that block radio frequency signals.

Supporting the normalization of BVLOS

“Reliance on a single link or common infrastructure isn’t always feasible in remote and mountainous terrain,” explained Cyriel Kronenburg of uAvionix. “Having multiple, seamless connections to the aircraft from airborne and ground-based communications provides the safety and flexibility needed to reliably perform these complex operations.

“Flying for extended ranges with many transitions between communications paths and frequencies will provide the data needed to support FAA rule-making, and reinforce the concept that UAS technology can be used safely and economically across all types of terrain and infrastructure,” he added.

At present, drone operators looking to perform BVLOS operations must request a waiver or exemption from the FAA – such as when Zipline completed its first autonomous US BVLOS flight in November 2023. According to uAVionix, the goal of the project is to make BVLOS operations a “more regular part of the UAS industry”.