Thales signs agreement with NASA to support UTM activity

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Thales, which is a global leader in air traffic management technology, has announced that it has reached formal agreement with NASA for a Space Act Agreement to support its UAS traffic management (UTM) activity.

Thales says that with the ongoing support of federal, state and local government officials, and economic development organizations, it will create jobs in New York through the agreement.

“Thales supports technology innovation and this agreement enables us to further leverage our strengths in air traffic management to advance a UTM concept for NASA and bring high-technology jobs to central New York,” says Alan Pellegrini, CEO, Thales USA.

​Thanks to this framework agreement, Thales can engage with NASA on a technical and program level to continue to establish UTM in the U.S. This agreement also allows Thales to utilize its global expertise in UTM, as the company will support NASA’s goal to develop a UTM concept that can be transferred to the FAA next year for deployment in the national airspace system (NAS).

Under this agreement, Thales will work with NASA for the research, development, testing and evaluation of low-altitude airspace control of UAS operating at or below 400 feet. Thales will interact with industry and government stakeholders to share expertise, concepts and perspectives on the integration of unmanned systems, in an effort to support NASA’s milestones for developing UTM. The agreement also includes additional cooperation with existing Technology Capability Level activities that NASA is conducting. 

Thales is already working with other NASA partners at the FAA’s New York Test Site at Griffiss International Airport in Rome, New York. The company will be deploying technologies in support of NASA initiatives.

Thales is also supporting the development of UTM in New York, including integration and monitoring of the FAA’s System Wide Information Management (SWIM) capabilities, through existing agreements with Syracuse University, Griffiss International Airport, CenterState CEO, Empire State Development and the NUAIR Alliance.

In addition, Thales continues to work with the FAA on the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) program for small UAS integration.

Throughout its engagement with NASA and its network of UTM partners, Thales plans to lean on its preexisting expertise of UTM. This expertise includes Thales’ current initiative of developing a secure and flexible UTM system based on the ECOsystem digital aviation platform. ECOsystem uses Thales capabilities in big data, cyber security, artificial intelligence and connectivity to provide “decision support for air traffic management stakeholders for manned and unmanned operations.”

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