A New York County has gained a financial prize of almost USD1 million from NASA to research the use of delivery drones and air taxis, reports dronelife.com. The nation’s top Aeronautic Agency awarded Oneida County USD897,000 to develop Advanced Air Mobility at the New York UAS Test Site (Griffiss International Airport).
A County spokesperson commented, “The goal of the research is to develop technology that will support safe, secure, resilient and efficient heavy-lift UAS cargo delivery and passenger carrying vehicles.”
Owned by Oneida County, the test site is one of seven FAA-Designated UAS Test Sites and is managed by NUAIR. The area is also part of the 50-mile UAS Traffic Management corridor spanning from Rome to Syracuse. Last year, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced the completion of the corridor. It includes BVLOS testing and advanced drone operations.
Anthony Picente Junior, an Oneida County Executive, said, “The County’s long-standing partnership with NASA has proven to be a productive one. Together, we have conducted important research which has led to advancements in the UAS industry.”
Part of NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility Project, the project will develop the operation of vertiports, as well as infrastructure requirements needed to increase scale of automation technologies.
In a 2019 DroneLife interview, NUAIR CEO Michael Hertzendorf noted the expansion of unmanned traffic management as well as delivery and passenger drones benefits the state’s economy.
“What is most exciting to me is not the drones,” Hertzendorf said, “but the economic potential that this technology could have on communities and how we can make New York better for the people.”
Hertzendorf continued, “The best is yet to come as UTM is the building block. Once we advance urban air mobility and the associated larger platforms, the future is really exciting.”
Visual information about air taxi market
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXyewsk-7aQ
(news source: https://dronelife.com)