Drones

Mobile drones: Skyward works with the FAA

Skyward, a Verizon company, announced a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the FAA to test cellular-connected drones.

Skyward was a visionary company in commercial drone software: the company was founded in 2012 before Part 107 went into effect. They were acquired by communications giant Verizon in April 2017: parent company Verizon has worked closely with Skyward ever since, using their software and services to internally support and make significant efforts to leverage their communication skills to expand the reach of the commercial drone industry. Skyward has been a key partner in projects to expand drone communications, testing applications such as drone delivery with parent company Verizon and leading logistics provider UPS.

These efforts place Skyward in a unique position to help the FAA investigate cellularly connected drones – a tool that could help “complex operations like Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS), Universal Traffic Management (UTM) and One.” -to-many operations “to tap”, it says in a Skyward press release. Currently, most commercial drones use an unlicensed spectrum: limited in range and prone to interference. “Verizon’s nationwide 4G LTE coverage, provided over interference-free spectrum, offers a tremendous opportunity for drone operations,” the press release said.

With the title “Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) – Cellular Technologies to Support UAS Activities”, the MOA enables Skyward and the FAA to jointly research the capabilities of cellular communication networks for the command and control function (C2) within the National Airspace System. The three-year MOA focuses in part on safety-critical C2 data and also allows the two groups to propose standards for operations, including BVLOS and over commercial wireless spectrum. Skyward and Verizon will also use the data and information gathered during the course of the MOA to inform their discussions of C2 and BVLOS operations in the FAA’s BVLOS Advisory and Rulemaking Committee.

“Cellular-connected drones play a critical role in enabling the safe, reliable, and secure drone operations of tomorrow,” said Matt Fanelli, director of strategy and operations for Skyward, a Verizon company. “We are very excited to be laying this foundation with the FAA, and we are confident that our efforts will help inform technical standards that result in industry regulations that allow low-risk BVLOS and one-to-many operations.”

The MOA is inspired by previous industry collaborations with the FAA, but aims to address complex UAS operations through joint data collection and analysis. The agreement also follows Skyward’s announced emergency waiver to inspect critical communications infrastructure near the Big Hollow forest fire in Washington in September 2020. The industry’s first known completely remote BVLOS operation without a pilot or visual observer on site demonstrated low risk operation as well as the Need to analyze and share data remotely with standard bodies and the FAA.

Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional marketplace for drone services, and a passionate observer of the emerging drone industry and regulatory environment for drones. Author of over 3,000 articles focusing on the commercial drone space, Miriam is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam graduated from the University of Chicago and has over 20 years experience in high-tech sales and marketing for emerging technologies.
For advice or writing in the drone industry, email Miriam.

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