BVLOS flights with North Dakota drone system approved

January 17, 2023 - By Maddie Saines

Image: uAvionix

uAvionix has received approval by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) small unmanned aerial flight in North Dakota. The test flight to secure approval took place at the Northern Plains UAS Test Site in North Dakota.

Vantis is North Dakota’s UAS network, which serves many UAS operators across different sectors. By leveraging Vantis, uAvionix demonstrated to the FAA it had established adequate risk mitigations to satisfy required safety standards for BVLOS operation within the national airspace system.

The Northern Plains UAS Test Site partnered with Thales USA to develop and implement Vantis. The UAS system enables UAS pilots to command and control the UAS and remain clear of other aircraft when flying BVLOS. Vantis includes ground-based aviation infrastructure, which lowers the barrier of entry to BVLOS flights for multiple users.

The FAA approval to conduct BVLOS UAS flights is another step in bringing UAS to commercial sectors. UAvionix continues to collaborate with FAA as regulations evolve to ensure Vantis meets all necessary requirements.