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US to expand BEYOND long-range drone testing with up to eight participants
The FAA will shift BEYOND phase two to larger drones and higher or longer flights, including scenarios above 400 feet, and the test data will feed upcoming rules for beyond visual line of sight operations.
The US government, led by the Transportation Department and the Federal Aviation Administration, is expanding its BEYOND long-range drone testing program for real world flights, adding up to eight new participants. The agencies said Aug. 27 they will double the program’s size as part of a second phase, with the new participants to be selected later.
BEYOND phase two will focus on more complex use cases than the program’s earlier phase. Instead of smaller delivery flights, the FAA wants to test flights using larger unmanned systems, including routes that could move cargo to remote or rural areas.
The FAA is also planning scenarios with drones traveling greater distances and flying above 400 feet, a configuration it described as useful for measuring weather data. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the next phase will expand the partnerships and operations needed to address remaining challenges in beyond visual line of sight operations, public safety missions, on airport operations, and other complex airspace environments.
Phase one participants logged more than 70,000 flights and included organizations such as the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the city of Reno, Nevada, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, while the original eight will continue. According to the release cited by Bloomberg, the FAA is using BEYOND to help inform policymaking and to support a forthcoming rule aimed at reducing years of case-by-case federal approvals, a system the regulator currently ties to visual observers or waivers for commercial operators.