Drone Delivery in 2020 and Beyond — Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM)
How NASA and the FAA Are Paving the Way for Drone Delivery in the United States
The Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) system
A system to safely separate fully autonomous drones that are operating at low altitude from other aircraft that are flying nearby.
Acronym Guide
ANSP = Air Navigation Service Provider = Aircraft management services
ATM = Air Traffic Management = Manned aircraft management
NAS = National Airspace System = Airspace in the United States
UAS = Unmanned Aircraft System = Drone
UTM = UAS Traffic Management = Drone traffic management
USS = UTM Service Supplier = Connect UAS Operators to UTM
UVR = UAS Volume Reservation = Airspace reservation
How UTM Works
The current Air Traffic Management system in the United States manages over 44,000 manned flights a day utilizing a nationwide network of 15,000 air traffic controllers. This system is not scalable to handle millions of drone flights that could be happening on a daily basis. The goal of the Unmanned Traffic Management system is to safely separate drones from other drones and manned aircraft autonomously, having a minimal impact on the current Air Traffic Management system.
In the UTM system, all UAS Operators must go through a UAS Service Supplier (USS) in order to make a UAS Volume Reservation (UVR) for their UAS Operation. The USS uses constraints set forth by the FAA and flight information from a network of all of the other USS’s to determine the status of the UVR in real time. The USS sends real-time information from back to the UAS Operator regarding the current status of their UVR. The UAS Operator can make adjustments to their flight based on this real-time information from the USS.
Let’s use our drone delivery company, Zing, as an example UAS Operator. In order to start a drone delivery, Zing must make a request to our UAS Service Supplier, AirMap. AirMap uses constraints set forth by the FAA and flight information from a network of all of the other UAS Service Suppliers to determine the status of Zing’s drone delivery in real time. They check UAS Volume Reservations from all of the other low-flying aircraft to see if any will cause a conflict with the drone delivery. AirMap sends real-time information back to Zing regarding the current status of our drone delivery. Zing can make the necessary adjustments to our flight based on this real-time information from AirMap.
UTM Timeline
July 28, 2015
NASA holds the UTM Convention to officially kick off the endeavor with the drone industry. They discuss their plans and vision for a fully functional UTM system.
NASA UTM Conference 2015
NASA UTM Official Website
NASA UTM PowerPoint
NASA UTM Factsheet
August 29, 2016
The FAA officially releases Part 107, enabling drone deliveries within Visual Line of Sight for pilots who have received a Part 107 certification with the FAA.
FAA Part 107 Announcement
Part 107 Regulations
Part 107 Advisory Circular 107–2
Zing Map of Part 107 Pilots
September 16, 2016
The Drone Advisory Committee, the commercial drone industry’s direct connection to the FAA, holds their first meeting. The video below shows their most recent meeting, which was the first one to be live-streamed.
Drone Advisory Committee
October 2019 Meeting Materials
June 2019 Meeting Materials
July 2018 Meeting Materials
March 2018 Meeting Materials
November 2017 Meeting Materials
June 2017 Meeting Materials
January 2017 Meeting Materials
September 2016 Meeting Materials
January 31, 2017
The FAA and NASA establish the Research Transition Team (RTT) to transfer the UTM research completed by NASA to the FAA.
October 25, 2017
The FAA launches the UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP) to start testing BVLOS drone delivery operations in the United States with industry participants.
Presidential Mandate to Integrate Drones into US Airspace
Integration Pilot Program (IPP)
IPP Participants
March 15, 2018
NASA and the FAA hold industry workshop to start the The Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) Pilot Program (UPP). UPP Phase 1 took place at three test sites around the United States and demonstrated some of the technologies that will be used in the initial UTM system.
September 13, 2018
The FAA rolls out LAANC throughout the entire United States, enabling drone flights within 5 miles of over 500 major airports. This opened up over 75,000 square miles of airspace to drones.
LAANC
LAANC Airports
LAANC Concept of Operations
UAS Service Supplier Operating Rules
April 23, 2019
Wing receives a single pilot Part 135 operation certificate, enabling them to make deliveries using one of their pilots. They work closely with the FAA to start doing highly controlled drone deliveries in Virginia.
Wing FAA Request
Wing FAA Approval
June 3, 2019
The FAA officially announces Part 135 at the FAA UAS Symposium, inviting the industry to apply for the “all-in-one” drone delivery waiver. Companies who receive a Part 135 certification have bypassed the critical limitations of Part 107 including BVLOS flight, flight over people, and flight at night.
Drone Deliveries Under Part 135
August 1, 2019
NASA Successfully completes the first phase of the UPP. The first demonstration, which involved the VT MAAP, took place at Virginia Tech on June 13. The second demonstration, which involved the Northern Plains UAS Test Site (NPUASTS), took place in Grand Forks on July 10. The third, which involved the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS), took place in Las Vegas on August 1.
October 1, 2019
UPS Flight Forward receives the first basic Part 135 operation certificate, enabling them to make BVLOS drone deliveries with an unlimited number of drone pilots.
UPS Flight Forward Part 135 Acceptance Press Release
UPS Flight Forward Part 135 FAA Request
UPS Flight Forward Part 135 FAA Approval
December 8, 2019
NASA and the FAA hold industry workshop to start UPP Phase 2. UPP2 will focus on higher density drone operations, and the implementation of Remote ID (license plates for drones) into the UTM system.
NASA UPP Phase 2 Information
NASA UPP Phase 2 PowerPoint
December 31, 2019
The FAA releases proposed rule for Remote ID. Remote ID is the ability of a drone to provide identification information that can be received by other parties. UAS Service Suppliers will be used to provide Remote Identification information for all flights Beyond Visual Line of Sight.
The development of Remote ID builds on the framework established by the small UAS registration rule and the LAANC capability to lay the foundation of a UTM system that is scalable to the national airspace.
Remote ID
Remote ID Proposed Rule
Remote ID Proposed Rule on Federal Register
January 1, 2020
The FAA requires ADS-B on all aircraft within 30 miles of major airports. UAS Operators are now given the ability to see all of the manned aircraft within their proximity by using either an ADS-B In receiver or connection to an API such as the AirMap Traffic API.
About Zing
We build autonomous last mile delivery solutions compatible with the most common drones to help businesses around the globe reach new customers.
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