Percepto receives FAA waiver to scale shielded BVLOS commercial UAS operations

Percepto has received a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that allows it to operate unmanned aerial systems (UAS) beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) in shielded airspace — without humans onsite, and without ground-based or airborne detect and avoid (DAA) systems — for inspection and monitoring operations at critical and non-critical infrastructure sites nationwide.

Under the waiver, low risk “shielded” BVLOS operations are authorized 200 ft above and around assets located on critical infrastructure sites. At non-critical infrastructure sites, shielded BVLOS operations are permitted 50 ft above and around the height of the tallest obstruction located within a half-mile radius of the site.

The operations authorized under this approval build upon recommendations made by the UAS BVLOS Aviation Rulemaking Committee chartered by the FAA. The ARC recognized that shielded airspace near structures and other obstacles where crewed aircraft do not typically operate could be leveraged as a safety mitigation to support safe, scalable, and economically viable UAS BVLOS operations.

The use of Percepto’s UAS to perform critical infrastructure inspections aims to improve worker safety and efficiency of operations by enabling inspections remotely from anywhere in the United States.

Percepto is at XPONENTIAL May 9-11, at booth 3409.