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Airborne-Unmanned 06.13.17: ATC Reform, NASA Updates UTM, Drone-Betting?


Also: Kratos Order, SoftBank Acquires Boston Dynamics, Sherriff UAV Finds Missing Man, Michael Huerta Update An Administration proposal released last week by President Trump as part of an infrastructure initiative seeks to separate the ATC system from the FAA and place it under the control of a private corporation administered by an administrative board that appears to offer significant power to the airlines and unions that make up the rank and file of the ATC personnel system. Much of the airline industry seems to be quite supportive of this effort, while it is largely opposed by much of the non-airline aviation and aerospace community. Based initially on proposals made by Representative Bill Shuster which failed to gain traction in previous years, the plan promises access to all members of the aviation community, including unmanned vehicles, but holds out the potential need for user fees to gain access to the National Airspace System. The FAA estimates that there could be 7 million UAS vehicles flying in U.S. airspace by the year 2020. It’s a staggering number, especially when it comes to safely managing all that air traffic. NASA has been charged by the FAA to develop methods of monitoring and managing UAS traffic. Partnering with public and private entities, NASA’s UAS Traffic Management (UTM) program just completed the second part of a four-stage research project towards this goal. U know you’ve reached a high level of public interest when they start betting on your activities. The Drone Racing League announced a partnership with Betfair to offer race betting at the final race of the Allianz World Championship. The championship race is the UK's first professional drone race, featuring 6 of the world's greatest FPV pilots. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unmanned!!!


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