Airspace Link: Framework, Friends & Digital Infrastructure

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Since its inception in 2018, Airspace Link has been shaping the industry's future by aligning local communities and key stakeholders to advance safe uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) integration into the national airspace system.  

The companys flagship technologies, including the new cutting edge AirHub® Portal, support Part 107 pilots, hobbyists and government actors in sharing airspace safely and according to regulations across a wide range of specific use cases. Its UAS Integration Framework approach and passion for workforce development also help to grow the industry.  

Whether you are from the government, commercial or recreational space, you will benefit from the information in this interview with Michael Healander, Airspace Links CEO and President. He provides deep insights into how the company supports UAS pilots, companies, government agencies - and the industry as a whole - through its various products, partnerships and thought leadership initiatives. 

 

Dawn Zoldi: What problem were you trying to solve in creating Airspace Link? 

Michael Healander: I had been through five companies with Daniel (Danny) Bradshaw, our CTO and one of our co-founders. Together, we solved complex geospatial problems like traffic time management systems for transportation and indoor positioning, navigation and routing systems for autonomous vehicles. Throughout that time, we had always watched the drone industry. We saw it as a really large geospatial problem that would require multi-jurisdictional government communications and systems.  

Dawn Zoldi: Was there anything unique about the geospatial challenges that needed to be addressed in the UAS industry, compared to the work youd done before? 

Michael Healander: You can't see the guardrails or speed limits or items in the sky. We saw - and still see - the drone industry as a three dimensional problem. While it called for a digital solution, that solution could not be stand-alone. We knew we would have to harmonize air data with other critical information such as ground risk (people, objects), rules for safety, community perceptions, multi-tiered government involvement and more, all together in one product. 

Dawn Zoldi: So, what inspired you to create Airspace Link? 

Michael Healander: What inspired us, first, was the difficulty of solving this complex integration problem. But it was about more than that. We were also inspired about how drones could bring about a different type of mobility and logistics to the world, which would be eco-friendly and accessible to so many people. We figured we could provide a piece to the puzzle to support the integration of drones.  

Dawn Zoldi: Tell us about those early years of the company. 

Michael Healander: My co-founders, Ana Healander (my wife) and Danny and I kicked our company off in earnest in February of 2019. The three of us spent a year hunkered down building under the first stages of the company. Danny spent years solving complex, geospatial problems and had the experience to execute on some of the hardest technology, especially geospatial thinking. He's just a master of that. We immediately began building out a digital infrastructure for drones. Its hard to believe that today we have over 50 incredible employees. 

Dawn Zoldi: You said you created a digital infrastructure.What does that mean? 

Michael Healander: We created the interface between whatever operation people want and the operational context - what's happening on the ground and in the airspace. The data can come from physical infrastructure, such as radar or remote identification telemetry information. It can come from third party proprietary sources, like cell phone pings that provide indicators of where people might be located on the ground. It can come from ESRI GIS systems. It can come from government users who push notifications out, such as fire in the areawarnings. Ultimately, we feed all of that data into a digital world, a digital twin type of system, to support a wide range of stakeholders. AirHub® is the brand name for our suite of such systems. 

Dawn Zoldi: Could you give us the 30,000 foot view of your AirHub® platform? 

Michael Healander: Sure. Our AirHub® Launch application helps Part 107, recreational and government drone pilots to plan their flights, quickly apply for FAA LAANC authorization when flying in controlled airspace. Government users can also integrate their flight data with AirHub® Connect planning tools to share flight information throughout their agency and publish advisories to local pilots operating in their jurisdictions. AirHub® Insights is our analytics engine. It transforms local data (e.g., where are most people flying on Saturdays?) into actionable intelligence. The data and analytics can be used to support our partners obtaining things like advanced operational waivers (e.g. beyond visual line of sight or Part 135 commercial carrier certificates). For government agencies, we can roll all of this plus professional services and co-marketing support into our Fly Safeprogram.  Its a turn-key way to interface with your community about drones in your area. 

Dawn Zoldi: Whats the value proposition for communities to buy into the Fly Safe program? 

Michael Healander: The value proposition for Fly Safe has evolved, as the industry has matured. Initially, communities felt like they were left out of being part of the drone industry. They wanted to know how to support drone pilots in their area by providing access to the rules and information on where to fly. Today, so many cities are buying their own drones, whether for public safety or DOT road inspections. Most cities have GIS systems with all kinds of parcel data about schools, hospitals, jails and helipads. So we plug-and-play with those systems and also combine it with our own plethora of business data and analytics plus third party data. This allows our Fly Safe program partners to have a landscape ability that they can pass along to their communities. For example, if theres a farmer's market happening on Sunday in the area, using the Fly Safe program, a regional government user could let all operators - including their own - know about it. Theres even a tool in there to analyze the best locations to put in a drone park, which could be used for job training. So, Fly Safe not only provides a lot more area awareness for those who participate in it, it also indirectly supports diversity and the future workforce, through these kinds of planning applications. 

Dawn Zoldi: You recently announced the release of the AirHub® Portal. How will this product improve upon your other AirHub products?  

Michael Healander: All of the products weve created thus far have essentially been individual apps. We have pilots that use pilot apps for planning their flights and operations. We have backend systems used for supporting the air and ground data. We have advanced systems for the larger operators that are trying to build out safety cases for waivers. All of this technology, and the models it creates, has been sitting in these separate silos. Our AirHub® Portal will be a one-stop-shop that combines all of these features and functions in one place. 

Dawn Zoldi: How will the AirHub® Portal improve UAS operations for the actual customer? 

Michael Healander: A user might be a pilot, as well as a planner. Another user might be a public safety pilot, who also creates advisories for the public. A commercial pilot may want to fly under Part 107, but then an hour later, go fly on the Vantis system up in North Dakota, which is a much more advanced platform. With AirHub® Portal, instead of having to tap into several systems, a user will just have to tap into this single platform. It will save a ton of keystrokes and time. 

Dawn Zoldi: When will AirHub® Portal be fully operational? 

Michael Healander: Right now, all of our AirHub interfaces are still in full use and operating throughout the United States. We will introduce new features and advanced functions into the AirHub® Portal throughout the year. Our legacy system will slowly migrate over to the new platform in a seamless manner, from the user perspective. When a user gets into the new platform, all their data will already be there. Users will simply transition over and have a lot more options and capabilities at their fingertips. 

Dawn Zoldi: You continue to evolve with the industry. What else is new on AirHub® today? 

Michael Healander: For the basic free version, we just introduced flights at night for recreational pilots. That went live a few weeks ago. We are tied into 700+ airports. About 40% of the U.S. population is in controlled airspace and we continue to provide LAANC authorizations in just 5 seconds for drone operators. Our advanced system adds in a few other tools, such as the ability to add localized data such as: schools, hospitals, critical infrastructure, areas of potential hazards on the ground and in the air, flight restrictions, weather and other things like that. We manage about 60 data sets. This includes advanced capabilities and policies that users can put in there, plus the backend analytics. 

Dawn Zoldi: Can pilots, companies, businesses, governments use the data you compile to help them obtain waivers for advanced operations? 

Michael Healander: Absolutely. Our data has been used to get approval for some of the highest level operations out there. In fact, we built our system to address some of the issues the regulator would bring up like: How do you know all the buildings are such-and-such height? How many roads are you going to pass over? How many planes are flying in this area, at speed limits and whats the probability of a collision? We went out and collected that data. Every time we solve one of these issues, we automate it and spread across the entire U.S. Today users can see this data in real time no matter where they are located. Its in a format that the FAA uses as well as one that operators and geospatial people can understand and model. 

 

Dawn Zoldi: Besides creating a digital infrastructure for the industry, youve also created a UAS Integration Framework. Tell us about that. 

Michael Healander: This was a game changer for us as a company. We constantly deal with a lot of different personas: federal government, state and local governments (as users or outward-facing supporters), operators, manufacturers, businesses and citizens. Each of these may be operating at a different level of sophistication. For example, a recreational pilot might be at Level 1 with basic understanding of the rules and minimal needs. An electric vertical take off and landing (eVTOL) company flying around a city (which is not really happening right now) would probably be at Level 6. And they all might be interacting. We put a sliding scale and process in place through this Framework, because people are on different points in their journey. Its a great visual way to communicate gaps and needs. Whenever a customer comes to us, we help them understand where they fit on the chessboard. Then we make sure everything aligns around them so that they can be successful. And if they want to move up through the Framework, sometimes we have to move the FAA with them.  

Dawn Zoldi: Can you share any operational success stories with us? 

Michael Healander: Sure. We won an RFP in Michigan to conduct a 12-month feasibility study of cross-border operations. We successfully completed that and expect the state to publish a report in the next few weeks. While we were doing that, the border shut down for ten days. It closed a bridge from Detroit to Windsor, Canada, the busiest border cargo in the country. Some of these companies would have lost about $10 million a day because they would not have been able to get small chips and fasteners across the border. Using our system, with our partners, real-world, we were able to avert those losses and deliver the parts. We have also participated in organ deliveries by drone with MissionGO. There are so many more, but Ill let our partners tell those stories.  

Dawn Zoldi: Airspace Link does so much, but what do you do when a customer asks for a feature that you dont have? 

Michael Healander: If we don't do it, we have partners that do it. We have really great partners from ESRI, who has global GIS data, to Thales, who manages anywhere from 40 to 60% of the world's airspace. We created the Framework to allow us to plug all the gaps, whether we have it or our partners do. 

Dawn Zoldi: Do you help communities obtain funds for their drone programs? 

Michael Healander: Yes. We have a team that just writes. Weve helped earmark close to $100 million in infrastructure funds to support drone operators in the future, whether it through helpful waivers or infrastructure and systems to support them. We have put a lot of hard work into helping communities apply for those funds. 

Dawn Zoldi: Your headquarters is in Detroit, Michigan. Besides the cross-border ops you helped facilitate in Michigan, are there any other exciting local developments? 

Michael Healander: Bill Ford is investing $1,000,000,000 into the Michigan Central Train Station, to make it the mobility hub for the state of Michigan. They're going to have autonomous vehicle lanes, charging roads and every type of technology you can think of. Air mobility is a massive part of that, with a big budget. Were moving our headquarters there, as one of the anchor tenants. We will be one of the first technology companies there. We're honored to be moving our headquarters to a mobility hub. 

Dawn Zoldi: You sponsored the month of March on the Dawn of Drones, with the theme of Future Industry.Whats your prediction for the future industry?  

Michael Healander: Its an interesting market. There's a lot of economic pressure for both the drone  industry and startups in general. It's hard to raise capital, so there is going to be some consolidation. As for Airspace Link, we're lucky we raised $23 million seven months ago and haven't touched it yet. We're in a really good position to apply that money at the right times - but we're not going to be successful unless operators are successful. We will weather the storms and earmark dollars. We're going to invest in our partners. 

Dawn Zoldi: Do you have any closing comments? 

Michael Healander: Whether you're an operator or a manufacturer or a city, we will use our Framework and work with our friends to support your mission. We want to make people successful. Our cities aren't going to be successful unless the people operating in them are successful. That's our job now, as we do these new deployments of products. We all need to show the benefits of this industry. And we're here for everyone to help do just that. \

 

To learn more about Airspace Link visit: https://airspacelink.com/  

Watch Michael Healander on the Drone of Drones 2023 here: https://www.auvsi.org/episode-83-michael-healander-president-ceo-airspac... 

  

Meet Airspace Links VP of Data & Solutions, Colby Free, in person at the Law-Tech Connect Workshop, where he will be speaking on a panel titled, Regulators Delivering the Goods? UAS/AAM Legal, Policy & Operational Updates.