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News and Updates – FAA To Begin Environmental Review at SpaceX Texas Launch Site

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SpaceX has informed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that it plans to apply for licenses for suborbital and orbital launches of its Starship spacecraft powered by the Super Heavy rocket at its launch site in Boca Chica, Texas.

The proposed update to Starship/Super Heavy operations falls outside of the scope of the existing final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Record of Decision for the launch site and requires additional environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The FAA is in the beginning stages of conducting the environmental review of the SpaceX proposal and developing a public outreach plan. The FAA intends to provide scoping information for the project soon. SpaceX is working with the FAA to prepare a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) which will be subject to the FAAs evaluation and approval.

The EA will allow the FAA to determine the appropriate course of action: preparation of an EIS because the proposed actions environmental impacts would be significant; issuance of a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI); or issuance of a Mitigated FONSI providing for mitigation measures to address the proposed actions environmental impacts. The FAA may make its determination during the EA process or after SpaceX presents a draft EA for FAA approval.

To receive the licenses, SpaceX must complete a safety review and develop agreements for the license application in addition to the environmental review.

Information about the FAA environmental review process as it relates to commercial space transportation is posted at faa.gov/space/environmental.

News and Updates – FAA Surveys Airlines and Airports on Runway to Recovery Recommendations

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WASHINGTON The U.S. Government is surveying U.S. air carrier airports and passenger airlines to ascertain the level of implementation of recommendations for protection of passengers and employees from the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the air transportation system. Government agencies made these recommendations in, Runway to Recovery: The United States Framework for Airlines and Airports to Mitigate the Public Health Risks of Coronavirus, in July 2020.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in coordination with other U.S. Government agencies, is conducting the survey to assess the industrys efforts to reduce transmission of the virus during travel, restore passenger confidence, and inform future Runway to Recovery updates. The results also may reveal barriers to implementation, successes, and additional measures that may be beneficial.

The agency will survey approximately 520 domestic airports and 50 U.S. airlines and expects to receive responses by early December. The FAA will post a summary of the survey results on the U.S. Governments FlyHealthy.gov website in 2021.

News and Updates – FAA, European Commission Agree to New Areas of Collaboration

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The Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) and European Commission (EC) demonstrated their continued commitment to collaboration and aviation safety improvement during the 14th meeting of the Bilateral Oversight Board, co-chaired by Ali Bahrami, the FAAs Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety.

The FAA and the EC signed four decisions to the U.S.-EU Safety Agreement. Two of the decisions adopted additional annexes to the original agreement for pilot licensing and flight simulators. The new annexes are new areas of collaboration between the FAA and EC. They reflect the completion of a multi-year effort to allow reciprocal acceptance of certain approvals in those areas and implement the expanded scope of the cooperative efforts agreed by the FAA and EC in December 2017.

The first decision establishes an annex that facilitates the conversion of FAA and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) private pilot certificates, airplane ratings and instrument ratings. Currently, up to 9,000 European residents hold FAA pilot certificates.

The second decision establishes an annex that allows the FAA and EU or Member State authorities to conduct recurrent evaluations on Flight Simulation Training Devices on each others behalf in the U.S. and in Europe.

These annexes reduce duplication and leverage FAA and EU resources, which allows both agencies to allocate resources to higher safety-risk areas.The streamlined procedures and reduced costs will benefit industry, government and the flying public.

The third decision allows technicians certificated by all EU aviation authorities to perform maintenance on civil aeronautical products. The final decision restores a reduction in the fees that EASA charges U.S. manufacturers for basic design changes on U.S. aerospace products.

News and Updates – FAA and NASA Complete Drone Demonstrations

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WASHINGTON The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has concluded the second phase of its Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management Pilot Program (UTM/UPP).

The agency ended the phase with virtual demonstrations in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and two UAS Test Sites: the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP) and the New York UAS Test Site(NYUASTS).

The UPP results will provide a proof of concept for UTM capabilities and serve as the basis for policy considerations, standards development and the implementation of a UTM system.

The demonstrations will help move us closer to safe beyond-visual-line-of-sight drone operations, said Pamela Whitley, the FAAs acting assistant administrator for NextGen. Flight testing UTM capabilities in high-density airspace will help us develop policy for safely and efficiently integrating drones into our national airspace while benefiting and serving communities.

The demonstrations showcased emerging UTM capabilities that will support beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations:

  • The FAA UTM Flight Information Management System prototype and infrastructure, which gives the FAA access to information from industry and other stakeholders.
  • New technologies and data to validate the latest international standards for remote identification and support authorized users with specific operator data.
  • In-flight separation from other drones or manned aircraft in high-density airspace to validate recently proposed international UTM standards to help drones avoid each other.
  • UAS volume reservations to notify drone operators of emergencies and make sure other UTM capabilities work properly in these scenarios.
  • Secure information exchanges between the FAA, industry and authorized users to ensure data integrity.

Check out the demonstrations in action

Each event attracted more than 100 participants and included local and state elected officials and representatives from international civil aviation authorities. Both test sites collaborated with drone operators and local public safety agencies to demonstrate scenarios that featured various complex UTM capabilities working together to support BVLOS operations with increasing volumes and densities.

MAAP hosted an event on Oct. 28 in partnership with UAS Service Suppliers (USS) AirMap, AiRXOS, ANRA Technologies, and Wing. On Nov. 9, NYUASTS hosted its showcase in coordination with the Griffiss International Airport, Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (NUAIR), and USS partners AiRXOS, ANRA Technologies, AX Enterprize, and OneSky.

The FAA has worked closely with NASA, industry and other stakeholders since 2017 to identify the initial set of capabilities needed to support small drone operations and advance UTM. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 extended the objectives of the program to further enable safe BVLOS drone operations, paving the way for the program.

Stay tuned for more updates on how emerging technologies are being field tested to support the growing UAS industry.

News and Updates – Initial Drone Registrations About to Expire

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is reminding everyone whose drone registrations expire in December that the DroneZone is the FAAs official website for registration.

If you completed your drone registration directly with the FAA before the DroneZone was established in January 2018, a DroneZone account was created for you using the information you provided. Access your account by entering the same email address you used when you first registered, and by using the forgot password tool to establish a new password.

If you registered using a third-party service, contact that company to request your DroneZone login credentials. Otherwise, you will have to create a new account in the DroneZone and get a new registration.

Registration on the DroneZone is fast and easy and the fee is only $5 for a three-year period. All drones must be registered, except those that weigh .55 pounds or less (less than 250 grams) and are flown exclusively under the Exception for Recreational Flyers. Please do your part to keep the skies safe and renew your registration today.