National Aeronautics and Space Administration

www.nasa.gov

AOSP Newsletter

Airspace Operations and Safety Program (AOSP)

APR-JUN 2019 | Quarter 3

UTM Completes TCL4 Testing in 

Reno, Nevada

4

Patent Issued for UTM 21
2 AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019

AOSP IN THE NEWS

After 737 MAX Crashes, 

Boeing CEO Asks For 

Board Review Of Airplane 

Design Processes

Seattle Times (4/5, Gates) reports 

“addressing criticism of the design of 

the Boeing 737 MAX’s flight-control 

systems, the company’s board of 

directors has created a committee to 

review how the jet maker designs and 

develops its new airplanes. ... and 

the FAA has set up a review chaired 

by former National Transportation 

Safety Board Chairman Chris Hart 

and including experts from the FAA, 

NASA, and international aviation 

regulatory authorities to evaluate 

all aspects of MCAS, including its 

design and how pilots interact with 

the system.” 

NASA, Nevada Institute to Test 

Drones In Downtown Reno

Washington Times (5/8) reports 

“Drones will be buzzing around 

parts of downtown Reno the next 

two weeks for urban testing by 

NASA and the Nevada Institute 

for Autonomous Systems. Reno 

officials announced Tuesday that 

the city is helping to facilitate the 

testing, which will be conducted in 

the downtown area May 11-24 and 

result in some road closures and 

pedestrian restrictions. According 

to the city’s announcement, NASA 

earlier this year selected the Las 

Vegas-based institute to participate in 

drone operations that will test flying 

in higher-density urban areas.”

FAA Asks For NASA’s 

Help In Boeing 737 MAX 

Safety-upgrade Review

Seattle Times (5/7) reports “the 

Federal Aviation Administration is 

convening a panel of outside experts 

from the Air Force, NASA and a 

Transportation Department center 

to review Boeing’s software fixes 

for the grounded 737 MAX. The 

agency announced the new Technical Advisory Board in a statement on 

Tuesday. The panel’s recommendations will ‘directly inform the FAA’s 

decision concerning the 737 MAX 

fleet’s safe return to service,’ the 

agency said.”

NASA Invites Media to Watch 

Drone Traffic Management 

Testing

SpaceRef (5/16) reports “NASA is 

entering the final stage of testing its 

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic 

Management (UTM) platform and 

invites media to learn more and 

watch drone demonstrations Tuesday, 

May 21, in Reno, Nevada. The 

agency’s research into drone traffic 

management focuses on operations 

within a city, at an altitude of 200 

feet or higher, and the unique 

challenges presented when flying 

in an urban area. Media will have 

the opportunity to interview NASA 

leadership and researchers about this 

important work.”

New Airspace Concepts 

Evolving Around ‘NonTraditional’ Entrants

Aviation Week (5/20) reports “new 

air traffic management (ATM) 

constructs are taking shape around 

drones, commercial spacecraft and 

urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles, 

known collectively, at least for now, 

as ‘non-traditional’ entrants into the 

airspace. The NASA-led Unmanned 

Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) project to develop a 

low-altitude traffic management system for drones started its final phase 

of testing in May. 

NASA Puts Drone Delivery 

System to The Test 

In Reno, Nevada

CNBC (5/21) reports “NASA is testing its drone traffic control system 

in Reno, Nevada in a new push to 

bring package delivery, emergency 

medicine and more. The system 

would help drones communicate 

with each other to navigate cities 

and neighborhoods, and will be 

tested in Reno through July 2019.”

NASA’s Ambitious Drone Air 

Traffic Control Trial Faces 

Its Toughest Challenges

SlashGear (5/22) reports “NASA’s 

automated air traffic control for 

drones project is headed into its final 

– and most challenging – year, and 

the future of UAV deliveries, automated flying taxis, and more could 
AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019 3

AOSP IN THE NEWS

hinge on just how well the trials 

pan out. The Unmanned Aircraft 

Systems Traffic Management project 

(UTM) has been running since 2015, 

NASA’s experiment in collaboration 

with the FAA and other agencies to 

explore how piloted and self-flying 

drones and other unmanned aircraft 

can cohabit in the skies.”

NASA’s First-Of-Kind 

Tests Look to Manage 

Drones In Cities

AP News (5/24, Sonner) reports 

“NASA has launched the final stage 

of a four-year effort to develop a 

national traffic management system 

for drones, testing them in cities for 

the first time beyond the operator’s 

line of sight. Multiple drones took 

to the air at the same time above 

downtown Reno this week in a series 

of simulations testing emerging technology that someday will be used to 

manage hundreds of thousands of 

small unmanned commercial aircraft.”

NASA Begins Testing 

System to Manage 

Drone Traffic In Cities

The Hill (5/24, Bowden) reports 

“NASA is reportedly testing a national system to manage the air traffic of 

commercial drones as more companies look to make deliveries to consumers via unmanned aerial vehicles 

(UAVs). The Associated Press reported Friday that NASA researchers flew 

multiple drones in downtown Reno, 

Nev., this week as part of a test of an 

unmanned flight system.”

NASA Develops Drone 

Management System

WESH-TV (6/4) reports “with many 

more drones than airplanes predicted, a different system is needed. 

Instead of a human controller giving 

a drone clearance, NASA created a 

peer to peer awareness system telling 

a drone not where it can be, but 

where it cannot. Later this summer 

NASA will hand over its final decisions to the FAA, which will create 

the rules of the road for a highway a 

few hundred feet overhead.”

Reno Streets Closing As NASA 

Resumes Urban Drone Testing

Associated Press (6/13) reports “the 

city of Reno has announced some 

downtown street closures as NASA 

resumes a series of drone tests in 

high-density urban settings. ... It’s 

part of the final stage of a fouryear effort to develop a national 

drone traffic management system. 

NASA and the Nevada Institute for 

Autonomous Systems conducted 

initial tests last month, flying drones 

for the first time above Reno streets 

beyond the operator’s line of sight.”

Urban Air Mobility, Alternate 

Propulsion Among NASA 

Research At Aviation Forum

Business Insider (6/18) reports 

“NASA’s cutting-edge aeronautics 

research continually delivers new 

concepts and technologies to the aviation industry, many of which will 

be the focus of agency discussions 

and demonstrations at this year’s 

American Institute of Aeronautics 

and Astronautics (AIAA) annual 

Aviation Forum and Exposition, 

otherwise known as Aviation 2019. 

The five-day conference takes place 

June 17-21 at the Hilton Anatole 

Hotel, 2201 N. Stemmons Freeway, 

in Dallas.”
4 AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

UTM Completes TCL 4 

Testing in Reno, Nevada

POC: RON JOHNSON AND KATHY LEE

This quarter marked a significant 

achievement for the Unmanned 

Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic 

Management (UTM) project as 

they completed Technical Capability 

Level 4 (TCL 4) testing in Reno, 

Nevada. In leading up to this event 

several hurdles had to be overcome. 

A kickoff meeting with the Nevada 

UAS test site and the Nevada 

Institute for Autonomous Systems 

(NIAS) took place in Reno, Nevada, 

on February 4. The purpose of the 

visit was to review NIAS’ progress 

on TCL 4 test preparation since 

being awarded the test site contract 

on December 21, 2018. Eight UTM 

team members participated in this 

face-to-face meeting held in Reno’s 

City Hall to discuss the details 

and test plans of the flights in and 

around the City of Reno that were 

planned for this test. Reno Mayor 

Hillary Schieve paid a visit and 

underscored the city’s commitment 

to successful testing. The team also 

visited sites in Reno to be used for 

takeoffs and landings, flight paths, 

and contingency areas. Following 

development and preparations, 

initial shakedown was conducted 

from May 13-23. The NIAS 

managed the test for NASA to 

demonstrate the UTM system in 

a complex urban environment. 

During these efforts, several UAS 

(small drones) were outfitted with 

onboard systems to investigate 

From left to right: Marcus Johnson, Tiffany Blake, Jeff McCandless, Huy Tran, Cheryl Quinn, Ron Johnson, David Korsmeyer (all from NASA Ames); Reno Mayor 

Hillary Schieve; Darryl Waller (also from NASA Ames); NIAS Executive Director Chris Walach. 
AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019 

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

performance of command and 

control communications with 

the ground, Global Positioning 

System (GPS) navigation, collision 

avoidance, vehicle-to-vehicle 

communication, and safety 

parachutes. As the outfitting and 

integration was completed, each 

vehicle went through functional 

test flights and an aviation flight 

safety review board conducted by 

Nevada with NASA participation. 

Pilot training with the modified 

vehicles took place that week in 

May at the Reno-Stead airport and 

included takeoffs and landings from 

rooftops. UAS Service Supplier 

(USS) providers were also onsite 

at Reno-Stead to check integration 

and data transfers between the 

UAS and USS as well as between 

the USS and NASA data collection 

systems. Approvals from the Federal 

Aviation Administration were also 

received that week for flying in 

the Reno airspace below 400 ft., 

and for conducting beyond visual 

line of sight operations by the 

pilot with additional safety visual 

observers. These were key approvals 

for testing to occur at three test 

ranges (Idlewild Park, Oxbow Park, 

and downtown Reno) inside Reno 

city limits. Overall, seven days of 

flying were achieved – somewhat 

shortened due to weather and 

typical technical problems expected 

in shakedown testing. These flight 

tests were the first of its kind 

anywhere with flying multiple

drones under beyond visual line 

of sight conditions in an urban 

environment. In conjunction with 

the shakedown tests, the NASA 

UTM project hosted a Media Day 

on May 21, to demonstrate UTM 

operations in downtown Reno 

for national and local media. The 

press contingent included cable 

network CNBC, the Associated 

Press, and several local Reno 

television stations. Demonstration 

flights of drones were performed 

and a press conference held, hosted 

by the Public Affairs Office of the 

NASA Ames Research Center in 

California. Speakers representing 

the UTM tests included Huy 

Tran, director of aeronautics at 

NASA Ames, and Ron Johnson, 

project manager for UTM. David 

Korsmeyer, associate center director 

for research and technology, also 

gave a briefing and was interviewed. 

Examples of media stories 

of this event are at:

https://www.ktvn.com/

story/40510988/nasaholds-watch-drone-trafficmanagement-testing-in-reno1

http://nbr.com/2019/05/22/nasaexplores-the-use-of-drones/

Drone flying in downtown Reno, Nevada — 

TCL 4 on May 21, 2019.

CNBC reporter Jane Wells, reporting on TCL 4 testing in Reno, Nevada.

5
6 AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

Following the successful shakedown 

tests, the UTM project completed 

TCL 4 flight tests from June 17-28. 

This testing was the first of its 

kind with multiple UAS flying 

simultaneously under beyond visual 

line of sight operations in a true 

urban environment. The testing 

(coordinated by NIAS) included 18 

industry partners. The testing had 

five live UAS flying 150 missions 

in downtown Reno and a nearby 

park. Additionally, there were over 

500 simulated flights that were 

flown simultaneously with the 

live flights to create high-density 

UAS operations. As during the 

shakedown tests, the UAS were 

outfitted with onboard systems to 

investigate their communication, 

navigation, and identification 

performance. Five industry 

partners provided USS connected 

to the NASA Flight Information 

Management System that controlled 

the drone air traffic through 

multiple scenarios including 

remote launch and land, building 

rooftop-to-rooftop operations, 

emergency responder operations, 

and airspace volume restrictions. 

Early results showed the UTM 

system performed well in traffic 

management functions and pointed 

out the challenging effects on future 

UAS designs for intense ambient 

radio frequency interference on 

UAS controls, GPS errors due to 

tall buildings, and micro-weather in 

urban canyons. On June 17, Eugene 

Tu, NASA Ames Center director, 

visited the NIAS Command Center 

for the TCL 4 test and met with 

team members, including NIAS 

Executive Director Chris Walach. 

UTM will be conducting similar 

tests in Corpus Christi, Texas in 

August to collect additional data 

on UTM system performance in 

operating in an urban environment. 

Fourth Trajectory-Based 

Operations Technical 

Exchange Meeting

POC: BRYAN BARMORE, AL CAPPS, 

YOON YUNG AND JEREMY COUPE

From April 2–3, the NASA Ames 

Research Center in California 

hosted the Fourth TrajectoryBased Operations (TBO) Technical 

Exchange Meeting (TEM) to 

coordinate research activities, results, 

and needs between the FAA, NASA, 

and the MITRE Corporation. TBO 

is the key operational improvement 

for airspace users to realize the 

benefits of the FAA’s NextGen 

plans. NASA and MITRE have 

been developing and testing TBO 

concepts and technologies for 

integration into the FAA’s acquisition 

plans, for eventual testing and 

deployment by the FAA. This series 

of TEMs started at the request of the 

FAA to get key researchers together 

to exchange relevant research ideas 

and results.TEMs also allow the 

FAA Technical Center personnel 

early oversight of the research cycle 

which can lead to easier transitions 

of research results to final testing 

and evaluation. Previous TEMs 

were hosted by the NASA Langley 

The UTM team at the UTM lab at Ames.
AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019 

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

Research Center in Virginia, MITRE, 

and the FAA Technical Center. This 

TEM was attended by 57 people, 

including 17 remote attendees. The 

FAA and their support contractors 

numbered 28. The FAA presented 

specific aspects of their vision for 

TBO, as well as research, testing, 

and evaluation capabilities they 

have developed. MITRE presented 

ongoing research into key TBO 

topics such as site adaptation 

of time-based management and 

performance-based navigation 

procedures and future data 

communications. NASA presented 

the status of Integrated Demand 

Management (IDM), Airspace 

Technology Demonstration-2 

(ATD-2) Phase 3, and Dynamic 

Routes Around Weather. The 

ATD-2 briefing included overhead 

stream insertion benefits assessments, 

Phase 3 plans, and upcoming events 

and stakeholder engagements. An 

open discussion period focused 

on questions researchers should 

be asking in early development to 

enable smooth transition deployment, 

including considerations for user 

training, deployment risk reduction 

early in the research process, better 

understanding of behaviors when 

things break, and best practices for 

interconnected studies. A living 

white paper will be produced over 

the next couple of months capturing 

the outcomes and recommendations 

from the discussion. The attendees 

toured NASA’s Air Traffic Control 

laboratory, Airspace Operations 

Laboratory, and Crew-Vehicle 

Systems Research Facility. The next 

meeting will likely be hosted by 

NASA, at its North Texas Facility 

in Dallas, Texas, in late summer.

ATD-2 Assessment of Ramp 

Times 4 Human-in-the-Loop 

Simulation

POC: LINDSAY STEVENS AND YOON JUNG

The Airspace Technology 

Demonstration-2 (ATD-2) 

experiment team completed the 

Assessment of Ramp Times (ART) 

4 human-in-the-loop (HITL) 

simulation testing at the NASA 

Ames Research Center in California’s 

FutureFlight Central (FFC), from 

April 22 – May 3. The ART studies 

focus on testing various research 

questions for ramp controllers and 

managers during surface metering 

events. The corresponding results 

are used along with user feedback 

collected during the runs to 

refine the ATD-2 tools for field 

operations. Four retired DallasFort Worth International Airport 

(DFW) FAA Air Traffic Control 

Tower (ATCT) controllers, two 

active FAA/National Air Traffic 

Controllers Association DFW traffic 

management coordinators, and 

eight American Airlines (AAL) ramp 

controllers (five active and three 

retired), as well as 12 pseudo-pilots 

Attendees of the Fourth TBO TEM toured facilities at Ames.

7
8 AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

participated in the ART 4 HITL 

simulation. Participants managed 

traffic per normal DFW operations 

while the ramp control participants 

worked to meet surface metering 

advisories for pushing aircraft off the 

gate areas as well as for delivering 

aircraft to the spot between the ramp 

and the airport movement area. The 

simulation environment at FFC 

includes a 360-degree tower cab to 

simulate airline ramp operations, 

and a 270-degree out-the-window 

view to simulate the ATCT. Three 

traffic scenarios were built based 

on live DFW operations during 

the summer of 2018. The ramp 

and ATCT controllers managed 

surface traffic in the simulation 

using the ramp tower console, ramp 

manager tower console, and the 

surface trajectory-based operations 

client ATD-2 user interfaces. The 

ATD-2 experiment team also hosted 

visitors and observers from various 

organizations during the simulation, 

including the acting Deputy FAA 

Administrator Carl Burleson, the 

FAA timed-based flow management 

advisor, AAL’s Operations Systems 

and Planning department, and 

FAA Technology Development & 

Prototyping Division, ANG-C52. 

Enabling Autonomous 

Flight and Operations in 

the NAS Workshop 1

POC: PARIMAL KOPARDEKAR

From April 23–24, the NASA Ames 

Research Center in California 

hosted the “Enabling Autonomous 

Flight and Operations in the 

National Airspace System (NAS) 

Workshop–1.” The inaugural 

workshop looked at research issues 

related to enabling autonomous 

flight operations in the future. 

Almost 200 attendees (40 from 

NASA) gathered at the Ames 

Conference Center to hear keynote 

speakers, including Jaiwon Shin, 

NASA; Sebastian Thrun, Kitty 

Hawk; Sanjiv Singh, Near Earth 

Autonomy; Raj Singh, JetBlue 

Technology Ventures; Joseph Keegan, 

Boeing; and Michael Romanowski 

and Carl Burleson, FAA. John 

Cavolowsky moderated a panel 

of FAA, academia, Airline Pilots 

Association, and industry panelists. 

Attendees participated in moderated 

break-out discussions to identify 

minimum viable products and steps 

to make progress towards increasingly 

autonomous flight and operations. 

Lindsay Stevens gives Carl Burleson an overview of ATD-2 ART 4 HITL Simulation at FFC.

Jaiwon Shin outlines NASA Aeronautics vision at 

Autonomy Workshop.
AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019 9

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

NASA ATD-2 and Charlotte 

Field Demo Partners Host 

FAA Administrator

POC: SHAWN ENGELLAND

On April 29, Airspace Technology 

Demonstration-2 (ATD-2) Field 

Demo Partners from the FAA’s 

Charlotte, North Carolina air 

traffic control facility and American 

Airlines’ (AAL) Hub Control Center 

(ramp control facility) joined 

with NASA personnel to host the 

acting FAA Administrator Daniel 

Elwell. The visit began in the 

FAA’s Charlotte air traffic facility 

with a briefing and ATD-2 system 

demo from the former National 

Air Traffic Controllers Association 

representative for ATD-2. The 

administrator then toured the facility 

interacting with FAA personnel and 

observing use of ATD-2 equipment 

in the air traffic control tower 

and Terminal Radar Approach 

Control Center. After touring the 

FAA facility, the administrator met 

with AAL executives and observed 

ATD-2 surface departure metering 

at AAL’s Charlotte Hub Control 

Center. The administrator was 

impressed with the collaborative 

nature of ATD-2 enabled operations 

in Charlotte and emphasized the 

importance of technology transfers 

to both FAA and industry.

UAM-UTM Testbed Integration

POC: DAVID THIPPHAVONG

In early May, the Air Traffic 

Management-eXploration 

(ATM-X) Urban Air Mobility 

(UAM) subproject achieved a 

significant technical accomplishment 

in its development of the NASA 

Aeronautics Research Mission 

Directorate’s UAM Grand 

Challenge (GC) airspace 

management backbone. The NASA 

ATM-X testbed was connected to 

the UTM Technical Capability 

Level 4 (TCL 4) system components, 

and successfully demonstrated 

the exchange of simulated UTM 

operational data.The integration of 

the testbed and the UTM TCL 4 

system facilitates a diverse range of 

GC simulations and enables users to 

access testbed-connected simulation 

capabilities and data via TCL 4. This 

is a crucial step towards preparing 

for GC flight test activities; industry 

partners will be able to conduct 

lab simulations to demonstrate the 

required information exchange. 

Follow-up work is underway to 

connect the components (e.g., 

UAS Service Supplier) of one or 

more industry partners with this 

integrated UTM TCL 4 testbed 

system that will be the foundation of 

the UAM GC airspace management 

backbone. To reduce risk and pave 

the way for test simulations with 

GC partners, a demonstration 

of information exchange and 

interoperability between industry 

and NASA components is expected 

by the end of fiscal year 2019.

ATD-2 Phase 3 Briefing 

to FAA Fort Worth District 

Manager and Staff

POC: GREG JURO

On May 7, the NASA Airspace 

Technology Demonstration-2 (ATD2) team provided a briefing on Phase 

3 to the Fort Worth Center district 

manager and support staff, in Dallas, 

Texas. The support staff included 

the air traffic managers from DallasFort Worth International Airport 

(DFW) tower, DFW Terminal 

Radar Approach Control Center, 

Fort Worth Center, and their 

National Air Traffic Controllers 

Association representatives. The 

briefing encompassed a high-level 

overview of ATD-2 and integrated 

involvement with several planned 

future systems that will be utilized 

in the National Airspace System. 

A history of FAA and industry 

involvement was also outlined with 

particular emphasis on NASA’s 

continuous participation in 

collaborative decision making groups 

and forums. The briefing concluded 

with an operational discussion and 

overview of the operational concepts 

FAA Administrator Dan Elwell visits the Charlotte 

air traffic control facility to observe ATD-2 surface 

departure metering.
10 AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

planned for Phase 3. The district 

manager and staff expressed full 

support of Phase 3 as the project 

continues to move forward. 

ATD-2 Phase 3 Meetings 

with FAA Field Demo 

Partners in North Texas

POC: GREG JURO

In an effort to orient their FAA 

field demonstration partners, 

the NASA Airspace Technology 

Demonstration-2 (ATD-2) team held 

a series of third quarter meetings. In 

the first meeting on April 11, the 

ATD-2 team briefed its North Texas 

region FAA field demo partners 

on the proposed operational use 

of the ATD-2 Phase 3 capability 

that will be utilized in the field in 

the summer of 2019. The team 

met with local National Air Traffic 

Controllers Association (NATCA) 

representatives, traffic managers of 

Dallas-Fort Worth International 

Airport (DFW) Air Traffic Control 

(ATC) Center, DFW Terminal 

Radar Approach Control Center, 

and DFW ATC tower. The NASA 

team demonstrated the ATD-2 

metroplex system running with live 

data and created mock alternatives 

for rerouting traffic leveraging 

trajectory options sets for concept 

walkthrough purposes. The group 

examined system recommended 

reroute opportunities and discussed 

procedural aspects of the FAA traffic 

management and approval process. A 

follow-up shadow session took place 

on May 2,

to gather feedback on the system 

features and discuss needs before 

the system is utilized in the field. 

At the May 2 meeting, the ATD-2 

team met again with local NATCA 

representatives, traffic managers of 

DFW ATC Center, DFW Terminal 

Radar Approach Control Center, 

DFW ATC tower, and Dallas 

Love tower. The items discussed 

included using the National Traffic 

Management Log for integrating 

restrictions in the metroplex 

planner, identifying specific coded 

departure routes that will be utilized, 

potential feedback venues, training 

requirements, and appropriate 

scenarios to test at the initial stages 

of the project. The discussion 

was again followed by a hands-on 

demonstration of the equipment. 

At a follow-on meeting on May 9,

the ATD-2 team conducted an 

FAA ATC and Airline Operator 

shadow session that included all of 

the field demo partners that will be 

utilizing the ATD-2 system during 

the 2019 testing and evaluations. 

A walkthrough of the concept 

of use and operational displays 

was provided, which generated 

significant productive discussion 

between all parties. This discussion 

included evaluation strategy, 

test process in the initial stages, 

training, user input, and objective 

data collection and metrics. The 

feedback from the shadow session 

was informative and led to specific 

actions that were incorporated into 

the evaluation plans for the summer.

NASA ATD-2 shadow session with FAA field demo partners in North Texas.
AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019 11

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

ATD-2 Spring Collaborative 

Decision Making Engagements

POC: JEREMY COUPE, ERIC CHEVALLEY

AND ISAAC ROBESON

From May 13–15, the Airspace 

Technology Demonstration-2 

(ATD-2) team engaged on three 

separate collaborative decision 

making (CDM) venues in 

Washington, DC. On May 13, the 

team supported the Surface CDM 

Team (SCT), providing updates on 

the ongoing field demonstration 

in Charlotte Douglas International 

Airport (CLT). On May 14, the 

team briefed the combined 

Flow Evaluation Team and SCT, 

discussing the new tasking that 

has been created to collaborate 

with NASA on its Phase 3 work on 

departure fix load balancing with 

trajectory option sets. On May 15,

the ATD-2 team briefed the main 

CDM forum, describing the work 

NASA plans this summer in the 

North Texas metroplex as well as 

the ongoing field evaluation in CLT. 

The main CDM forum briefing 

also highlighted predictability 

improvement benefits that have 

been from automatic scheduling 

into the overhead stream with 

the operator provided earliest off 

block times. CDM engagements 

are an important venue for NASA 

research efforts that strive toward 

aviation system-wide solutions. 

The CDM participants appreciated 

the engagement and provided 

constructive inputs that will 

be used to improve the ATD-2 

research products.

NASA’s ATM Research 

Featured at ATCA 

Technical Symposium’s 

Tech Center Tuesday

POC: BOB STAUDENMEIER, JOEY MERCER, 

BRYAN BARMORE AND ALINA ESKRIDGE

NASA’s Air Traffic Management 

(ATM) research and development 

was showcased during the annual 

Air Traffic Controller Association 

(ATCA) Technical Symposium’s 

Aviation Science, Technology, 

Engineering, and Math Monday 

and Tech Center Tuesday (TCT) 

events, from May 13-14, at 

the FAA’s William J. Hughes 

Technical Center in Atlantic City, 

New Jersey. This year’s theme 

was “Where Innovations Take 

Flight,” and featured technical 

tours, demonstrations, and exhibits 

in a variety of aviation fields 

from over 45 different projects, 

programs, and organizations. 

NASA had two booths, which 

showcased the Airspace Technology 

Demonstrations (ATDs), ATMeXploration, System Wide Safety 

(SWS), and Unmanned Aircraft 

System (UAS) Traffic Management 

(UTM) projects. The ATD-1 

concept animation and Avionics 

Phase 2 flight test video were 

featured. The ATD-2 concept 

animation was shown in the 

NASA booth, and the user displays 

were shown in an adjacent FAA 

booth highlighting collaboration 

work with the FAA Tech Center 

Team. This included the latest 

Jeremy Coupe and Al Capps briefing the CDM 

group.

AOSP team members briefing visitors at the NASA booths at ATCA’s Tech Center Tuesday Event.
12 AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

connection to the electronic flight 

progress strips in use at Charlotte 

Douglas International Airport. 

The ATD booth also showed the 

ATD-3 concept animation about 

the integration of ground-based 

tools and a flight-deck-based tool 

focusing on improving en route 

and arrival phases of flight. The 

UTM booth featured a simulated 

scenario of UAS operations, 

showcasing flight test activities 

that were conducted during the 

Technical Capability Level (TCL) 

2 and TCL 3 events, as well as a 

demonstration of an upcoming 

TCL 4 scenario that will take 

place in Reno, Nevada in June. 

Visitors viewed visualizations and 

functions of the UTM research 

platform, bringing to life the 

system architecture and data 

models currently in use. Monday’s 

exhibit visitors included high 

school students from neighboring 

New Jersey communities, showing 

great interest with current 

and future NASA systems and 

research. Tuesday’s exhibit 

visitors included government 

and industry representatives 

who showed considerable 

interest throughout the event.

Learning to SWIM with ATD-2 

POC: SHAWN GORMAN AND JEREMY COUPE

From May 21–23, the Airspace 

Technology Demonstration-2 

(ATD-2) team held meetings with 

the broader aviation community 

to share lessons learned on System 

Wide Information Management 

(SWIM) data pre-processing, 

data mediation, and analysis.

On May 21, at the Southwest 

Airlines facility in Dallas, Texas, the 

SWIM Industry/FAA Team (SWIFT) 

held a quarterly meeting and 

presented various use cases on SWIM 

processing. On May 22, the ATD-2 

team conducted day-long briefings to 

approximately 116 members of the 

aviation community including airline 

operators, airport operators, industry 

vendors, the FAA, and the National 

Business Aviation Association. The 

ATD-2 presentation covered the 

lessons learned in SWIM processing 

over the course of the project, data 

mappings that have been developed 

to properly mediate among 

disparate sources of SWIM flight 

data, reporting artifacts that have 

evolved over the life of the project 

and example analytics work that the 

ATD-2 team has executed with this 

data. The ATD-2 team supported 

two extra sessions to address specific 

questions from the community; 

one after the main briefing, as well 

as a follow-on session the next 

morning at the Dallas-Fort Worth 

Fire Training Research Center. The 

ATD-2 team received considerable 

positive feedback on the value of 

this technical transfer to the aviation 

community, as well as requests for 

follow-on transfers.The ATD-2 

team is grateful for the collaboration 

with SWIFT as well as Southwest 

Airlines and the Dallas-Fort Worth 

International Airport’s hospitality in 

hosting these important engagements.

ATD-2 Conducts Phase 

3 Freeze Meeting with 

FAA ATC and Operators 

POC: GREG JURO

On May 23, the Airspace Technology 

Demonstration-2 (ATD-2) team 

conducted a Phase 3 requirements 

freeze meeting with FAA air traffic 

ATD-2 team providing SWIM briefing to aviation stakeholders.
AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019 13

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

controllers and operators in the 

North Texas area. ATD-2 field 

demo partners in attendance 

included personnel from Southwest 

Airlines, American Airlines, DallasFort Worth International Airport 

authority, regional FAA and 

National Air Traffic Controllers 

Association (NATCA) personnel, 

and national FAA and NATCA 

personnel. In addition to 

updating the audience on recent 

activities relating to Phase 3,

the meeting obtained concurrence 

from the group on a roll out strategy 

for this summer and early fall. The 

“micro-phased” strategy presented 

gradual increases in system 

capability over a three-month 

period. The group overwhelmingly 

approved this approach. In the 

following weeks, the ATD-2 team 

will focus on the first microphase which is scheduled to begin 

June 10. The first micro-phase 

encompasses the integration of 

air traffic restriction SWIM data 

into a metroplex-wide planning 

interface shared by all field demo 

partners in the North Texas area 

as well as initial familiarization 

with system components.

NASA Grand Challenge 

Airspace Test 

Infrastructure Kickoff 

POC: JIM MURPHY AND SHIVANJLI SHARMA

From May 28-29, the NASA Grand 

Challenge (GC) Airspace Test 

Infrastructure (ATI) team held a 

kickoff meeting at the NASA Ames 

Research Center in California. 

ATI is preparing for the Urban 

Air Mobility (UAM) ecosystemwide challenge for participants to 

execute system-level safety and 

integration scenarios within a robust 

and relevant environment, which 

NASA will host in 2020. The ATI 

kickoff meeting included engineers 

and researchers from Ames and the 

NASA Langley Research Center 

in Virginia, who developed a 

schedule for the initial GC and the 

associated build-up activities. The 

ATI team is focused on providing a 

robust platform for UAM airspace 

participants to demonstrate their 

concepts and integrate with 

UAM vehicle participants. The 

ATI team is also working closely 

both with the team at NASA’s 

Armstrong Flight Research Center 

in California, which is providing 

the test range, and with industry 

partners, to integrate their concepts 

in order to execute an integrated 

vehicle and airspace UAM GC. 

AOSP Briefs IDM Concept to 

FAA’s Command Center Staff 

for iTBO Implementation

POC: NANCY SMITH AND PAUL LEE

From May 29-30, Integrated 

Demand Management (IDM) 

researchers met with the FAA’s 

Command Center representatives for 

Initial Trajectory Based Operations 

(iTBO) at NASA’s Ames Research 

Center in California. The purpose of 

the meeting was to discuss and demonstrate NASA’s IDM concept. FAA 

Command Center representatives 

included Pat Somersall, Command 

Center staff manager, and Jeeja 

Vengal, Command Center national 

operations manager. Vengal is the 

Command Center representative 

in the FAA’s iTBO implementation 

effort, and a key stakeholder for 

facilitating IDM implementation, 

and Somersall has been an early supporter of the IDM concept. Potential 

benefits and feasibility of the IDM 

concept were also demonstrated. The 

IDM team briefed on the potential 

benefits of coordinating the strategic 

traffic flow management system to 

pre-condition air traffic into the traffic based flow management (TBFM) 

arrival problem. Initial briefing of 

the concept, lively discussion about 

concept and hands-on experience 

with IDM tools, followed by a 

four-hour end-to-end simulation 

run allowed the visitors to ask lots of 

questions, interact directly with the 

tools, and see the outcome results 

of the concept. Overall, the meeting 

ATD-2 team briefing field demo partners.
14 AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

was quite successful. There was a 

healthy discussion about a potential 

Philadelphia International Airport 

(PHL) field trial of the IDM concept 

as a way of introducing FAA’s iTBO 

concept in the Northeast Corridor 

airspace. The IDM team showed 

results of a direct comparison 

between current PHL operations 

versus PHL operations with the IDM 

concept in the human-in-the-loop 

environment, which was a huge 

factor in convincing the visitors of 

the beneficial impact of IDM. They 

strongly encouraged the IDM team 

to continue socializing the concept in 

this way and to continue collecting 

these types of comparison results and 

show them to the key operational 

stakeholders whose participation 

is critical for implementation of 

IDM in the field. A second feedback 

received was an encouragement 

for NASA to continue developing 

modeling and automation/decision 

support tools that have been built 

for the IDM concept, which they 

liked very much. They suggested 

that the tools could be developed 

as potential third-party web-based 

services as a way of providing 

valuable information to traffic flow 

managers. Few action items resulted 

from the meeting. Somersall suggested inviting a PHL operations 

expert when the Northeast Corridor 

specialists from the TBFM office 

are expected to come for a two-day 

meeting in July so that they could 

jointly discuss the IDM concept 

for PHL operations. Secondly, they 

supported and wanted to participate 

in a fall 2019 visit to Ames with joint 

representatives from TBFM, Command Center, and other relevant 

parties to examine the IDM concept 

and their own plans in coordinating 

strategic and tactical traffic-based 

flow management systems.

ATM-X UAM Collaboration 

with Uber

POC: DAVID THIPPHAVONG

In early May, members of NASA’s 

Air Traffic Management-eXploration 

(ATM-X) Urban Air Mobility 

(UAM) team met with Uber 

Elevate engineers and researchers 

to focus on Uber’s involvement to 

accelerate and enhance NASA’s 

planned fiscal year 2019 ATM-X 

UAM X2 activity to develop 

and exercise the UAM airspace 

system backbone and simulation 

platform. This backbone leverages 

Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic 

Management (UTM) Technical 

Capability Level 4 (TCL 4) and 

testbed, which will be used in the 

NASA UAM Grand Challenge (GC). 

More specifically, NASA and Uber 

discussed and decided on technical 

details for initial connectivity 

tests scheduled to occur by early 

June, with engineering evaluations 

scheduled to occur in August. The 

actual connectivity test of the UAM 

airspace management system for the 

GC with an external partner was 

successfully conducted on May 30 

at the NASA Ames Research Center 

in California. AOSP’s ATM-X UAM 

team collaborated with the Uber 

Elevate team to test connectivity 

 IDM team briefing the FAA’s Command Center representatives.
AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019 15

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

between NASA and Uber systems, 

towards X2 engineering evaluations 

planned for August that will be 

used in the GC. The connectivity 

tests and the X2 engineering 

evaluations will reduce risk and 

expedite the future integration of 

GC partners into the GC airspace 

system. ATM-X is responsible for 

developing this system and running 

scenarios on it with GC partners 

in lab simulations to demonstrate 

their capabilities and components 

prior to GC flight test activities. 

The team validated the exchange 

of simulated UAM operational 

data (e.g., volumes, routes, tracks) 

between each other’s systems. In 

addition, through these connectivity 

tests, configuration changes were 

identified as well as additional 

necessary features to extend the 

UTM paradigm and system for 

UAM operations. Follow-up work is 

underway to integrate the additional 

components required to conduct X2 

engineering evaluations with UAM 

airspace management technologies.

EcoDemonstrator Combined 

Systems Requirements/

Preliminary Design Review

POC: BARBARA BURIAN AND JAMES CHARTRES

On May 31, the EcoDemonstrator: 

Combined System Requirements/

Preliminary Design Review was 

held at NASA’s Ames Research 

Center in California. The purpose 

of the meeting was to evaluate the 

project management, status, and 

technical work being undertaken 

at NASA for the 2020 Boeing 

ecoDemonstrator (ecoD) flight in 

partnership with Boeing and the 

FAA. Attendees included the ecoD 

team, reviewers and stakeholders, 

technical reviewers, and NASA 

management. The review covered 

a variety of topics relating to the 

formulation and initial development 

of the activity including scope, 

goals, objectives, success criteria, 

system and functional requirements, 

software development, the testing 

plan, schedule, resources, and risks. 

NASA Grand Challenge 

Scenarios Technical 

Working Group Kickoff

POC: SHIVANJLI SHARMA

The FAA hosted a kickoff meeting 

for the Grand Challenge (GC) 

Scenarios Technical Working Group 

(STWG) at FAA Headquarters 

on May 31. Meeting participants 

included representatives from 

NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility 

project, engineers and researchers 

from the GC, and subject matter 

experts across a wide range of 

FAA organizations, including Air 

Traffic, Flight Standards, Aircraft 

Certification, NextGen, and 

Unmanned Aircraft Systems. In 

2020, NASA will host an Urban 

Air Mobility (UAM) ecosystemwide challenge for participants 

to execute system level safety and 

integration scenarios within a robust 

and relevant environment. This 

STWG kickoff meeting was focused 

on introducing the team to the 

development work leading up to the 

formulation of the GC as well as 

introducing an initial set of scenarios 

that will be further refined and 

amended through iterations in the 

STWG. The STWG aims to define 

a set of scenarios that include both 

NASA and FAA considerations while 

also maximizing value generated 

to both industry participants and 

government organizations. Through 

the collaboration that will be 

fostered in this working group, the 

GC scenarios will serve to provide a 

robust platform for UAM industry 

partners to demonstrate their 

concepts and execute an integrated 

vehicle and airspace UAM GC. 

ATM-X Urban Air Mobility 

Cognitive Walkthrough

POC: SAVVY VERMA

A cognitive walkthrough was 

conducted by Urban Air Mobility 

(UAM) subproject researchers from 

June 5–6, at NASA’s Ames Research 

NASA team observing exchange of volumes and 

tracks as expected between NASA and Uber.
16 AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

Center in California, to evaluate 

potential UAM operations at a 

conceptual level. The walkthrough 

included three FAA subject matter 

experts (SMEs) sponsored by 

the FAA’s NextGen Office. The 

SMEs provided input that will be 

considered in the UAM concept 

of operations as well as inform 

the scenarios for upcoming 

engineering evaluations. The 

cognitive walkthrough consisted 

of a table-top exercise with storyboarding for several scenarios 

focused on: current day procedures 

and communication protocols 

for UAM operations; digitizing 

or automating communications 

and the challenges involved in the 

process of automating them; how an 

Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) 

Traffic Management architecture 

would work for UAM operations; 

and the processes of authorizing UAS 

and providing automated clearances 

for UAS used for cargo delivery.

Testbed Training at Volpe 

Transportation Center

POC: KEE PALOPO

NASA’s Air Traffic ManagementeXploration (ATM-X) testbed team 

conducted testbed training of its 

Build 1.5 Software Development 

Kit, at the Volpe National 

Transportation Systems Center in 

Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 

June 5-6. The training session was 

conducted to support anticipated 

future collaborations among 

government organizations. The 

following organizations participated 

in the training (with the number of 

participants indicated in parentheses): 

NASA (2), Volpe (14), FAA Tech 

Center (2), MITRE (2), and MIT 

Lincoln Lab (4). Build 1.5 Software 

Development Kit recently added a 

stand-alone testbed toolset to allow 

users to test their to-be-connected 

tools during development. The FAA 

continues to show a deep interest, 

in particular to connect NASA and 

FAA Tech Center facilities beyond 

their two labs, for supporting the 

2020 ecoDemonstrator subproject. 

Feedback received from participants 

indicates that the testbed provides 

a good or even elegant platform for 

air traffic management simulations 

and a critical mass of tools would 

be required to make it useful 

for research and development 

collaboration. A critical mass would 

require stakeholders to provide 

their capabilities deemed useful by 

others, by connecting their tools and 

facilities. Also, MIT Lincoln Lab 

indicated an interest to pursue an 

interagency agreement with NASA. 

Finally, the participants were asking 

when documentation supporting 

the testbed would become available. 

ATD-2 Phase 3, Safety Risk 

Management Meeting 

POC: GREG JURO, AL CAPPS

AND SHAWN ENGELLAND

On June 11, the FAA hosted a 

Safety Risk Management (SRM) 

meeting to assess the potential 

risks of utilizing the Airspace 

Technology Demonstration-2 

(ATD-2) metroplex planner, which 

is scheduled to begin testing in the 

North Texas area in mid-July 2019. 

The meeting was facilitated by 

representatives of the FAA’s quality 

control group located at the Central 

Service Area in Fort Worth, Texas, 

and was required by the FAA prior 

to embarking on ATD-2 Phase 3 

activities. The SRM panel members 

included FAA management and 

National Air Traffic Controllers 

ATM-X team providing training on NASA testbed at Volpe.
AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019 17

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

Association representatives from the 

Dallas-Fort Worth International 

Airport (DFW) tower, Dallas Love 

tower, DFW terminal area, and 

Fort Worth en route center facilities. 

NASA and airline representatives 

provided subject matter expert 

support for this safety decision. 

The current use of ATD-2 was 

outlined and compared with the 

projected expanded uses, with 

a new capability being added 

during ATD-2 Phase 3. No safety 

hazards were identified by the SRM 

panel. The next and final step in 

the SRM process is for the FAA 

district manager to review the SRM 

document, which is anticipated to 

be completed within two weeks, 

which will allow new ATD-2 Phase 

3 trajectory option set capabilities 

to be used in the field evaluation. 

Completed Collaborative 

Simulation with LSUASC 

POC: RON JOHNSON

On June 14, the Unmanned Aircraft 

System (UAS) Traffic Management 

(UTM) project conducted a 

collaborative simulation with the 

Lone Star UAS Center (LSUASC) at 

the NASA Ames Research Center in 

California, to check preparations for 

the upcoming Technical Capability 

Level 4 (TCL 4) testing that is 

planned for Corpus Christi, Texas, 

later this summer. The simulation 

involved multiple industry UAS 

Service Supplier providers and 

numerous UAS companies and their 

partners that executed scenarios 

of day-in-the-life UAS operations 

in an urban environment. The 

scenarios simulated multiple live 

flights performing missions such as 

package deliveries, area inspections, 

traffic monitoring, and building 

inspections. The UTM system 

performance was evaluated while 

several triggering events such 

as extreme weather restrictions, 

large scale Global Positioning 

System outage, and public safety 

priority flights interrupted normal, 

high volume UAS traffic. The 

simulation results will be used 

to refine the flight plans, ground 

instrumentation, and data collection 

approaches. Actual flight testing 

of TCL 4 operations will take 

place in July for shakedowns and 

August for the full demonstration. 

NASA Discussions with 

American Airlines and 

Southwest Airlines 

on Stall Training 

POC: GAUTAM SHAH

From June 18–20, researchers 

Gautam Shah and Kevin 

Cunningham from NASA’s Langley 

Research Center in Virginia met 

with Phil Fuhrer, director of 

simulator support at American 

Airlines, and Joe Marott, Southwest 

Airlines Flight Training Center 

director, to discuss recent activities 

regarding stall training. The 

meetings were held at each of their 

respective training facilities in 

Dallas, Texas. The System Wide 

Safety project conducted extensive 

modeling and simulation research 

in support of new FAA stall training 

requirements that went into effect 

earlier this year. American Airlines 

has been an active collaboration 

partner in NASA research over 

the past five years through a Space 

Act Agreement, and Southwest 

Airlines was one of the industry 

leaders in implementing the new 

training. The airline representatives 

shared their recent experiences in 

conducting the new training, both 

in terms of training curriculum 

Ames researchers taking part in collaborative simulation with LSUASC. development and application 
18 AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

(overwhelmingly favorable), as 

well as impact on simulator 

hardware (limited effect). They 

also provided positive comments 

on the NASA research that enabled 

the simulator implementation of 

stall aerodynamics. NASA will 

continue to follow-up with the 

airline training community as a 

whole, to understand the transition 

of NASA technology into the 

operational airline environment. 

SWS RTT Data Group Meeting 

POC: JESSICA NOWINSKI

On June 27, researchers 

and leadership from NASA’s 

System Wide Safety (SWS) 

project, FAA’s Aviation Safety 

and Accident Investigation and 

Prevention organizations, and 

MITRE Corporation met at FAA 

headquarters in Washington, DC, 

for the SWS Research Technology 

Transition (RTT) data group. As 

part of this meeting, the Aviation 

Safety Information Analysis and 

Sharing manager praised the FAA/

NASA collaboration, particularly 

the use of NASA’s Multiple Kernel 

Anomaly Detection (MKAD) tool, 

as a good example of how NASA 

and the FAA can work together to 

improve aviation safety, and also 

as the only current way forward 

for using artificial intelligence 

to examine flight quality data. 

Leadership and researchers updated 

each other on tools and processes 

for automatically understanding 

data and its safety implications, 

and agreed on expected progress 

anticipated during the next quarter. 
AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019 19

RECOGNITION

Not Just on the Fly: Drone 

Strategies for Businesses

POC: PARIMAL KOPARDEKAR

The Minority Corporate Counsel 

Corporation presented its Global 

TEC Forum: Empowering Change 

in Technology, Education, and 

Careers to address diversity in the 

tech industry, the latest disruptions 

and challenges facing the legal 

profession, and how emerging 

technologies are changing the 

practice of law. The forum was 

held at the Hilton San Francisco 

Union Square in San Francisco, 

California, on April 5. As part of this 

forum, Parimal Kopardekar from 

NASA participated as a panelist on 

the “Not Just on the Fly: Drone 

Strategies for Businesses” panel, to 

discuss best practices and review legal 

issues and compliance requirements 

when using drones. The website 

for the forum is listed below.

https://www.mcca.com/

events/global-tec-forum/

Symposium on AeroCybersecurity 

POC: PAUL NELSON

From April 8–9, Paul Nelson, 

AOSP integration manager for 

cybersecurity and communications, 

participated in the Symposium 

on Aero-Cybersecurity at EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University 

in Daytona Beach, Florida. This 

invitation-only event is part of the 

larger President’s Forum on Research 

and Innovation and consisted of 

approximately 75 participants 

from government, industry, and 

academia. Nelson chaired the 

panel on “Workforce Development 

Education, Challenges, and Trends.” 

Nelson was also a speaker on the 

panels “The Data ‘Sweet Spot’: 

How to Enrich Collaboration in 

Aviation” and “Future for Endto-End Aviation Cybersecurity.”

Urban Air Mobility Americas 

Conference 2019

POC: PARIMAL KOPARDEKAR

Parimal Kopardekar participated 

at the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) 

Americas 2019 Conference, 

sponsored by Aviation Week 

Network, at the Georgia World 

Congress in Atlanta, Georgia, from 

April 9–10. The conference brought 

together more than 150 registered 

attendees including leaders and 

innovators from the most trusted 

brands in the industry. UAM drew 

stakeholders from 10 countries 

including the United States, Canada, 

China, Czech Republic, France, 

Germany, Spain, and the United 

Kingdom. The conference hosted 

nearly 40 speakers representing 

airlines and industry including Bell, 

Airbus, JetBlue Tech Ventures, Urban 

Aviation, GoFly, UPS, and Embraer. 

The intent of the conference was 

to network, learn, and discuss 

on-demand aviation in smart cities 

and unmanned transportation. 

Kopardekar participated on the 

“UAS Traffic Management: Adaption 

and Integration” panel along with 

Ben Marcus (AirMap), Isabel del 

Pozo de Poza (Airbus), and Steve 

Weidner (National Air Traffic 

Controllers Association). Kopardekar 

also presented, “Case Study: Supply 

Chain 2023.” The website for 

the conference is listed below. 

https://uam.aviationweek.

com/en/home.html

FAA UAS Symposium

POC: PARIMAL KOPARDEKAR

On June 5, Parimal Kopardekar was 

invited to participate as a panelist 

at the FAA Unmanned Aircraft 

System (UAS) Symposium, held at 

the Baltimore Convention Center 

in Baltimore, Maryland. The panel 

titled “The Age of Automation–

Future of Flight,” included the 

following industry representatives: 

Chris Anderson (3DR), Tom 

Prevot (Uber), Antonio Campello 

(Embraer X), and Melissa Tye 

(Skyward). Kopardekar discussed 

how drones and automation are 

changing the look and feel of the 

aviation industry. This meeting 

was jointly hosted by the FAA and 

the Association for Unmanned 

Vehicle Systems International. 
20 AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019

RECOGNITION

Third Annual Uber 

Elevate Summit

POC: PARIMAL KOPARDEKAR AND MIN XUE

Uber Elevate hosted its Third Annual 

Summit in Washington, DC, from 

June 11–12. This invitation-only 

summit convened leaders from across 

academia, industry, government, 

policy, and technology for a two-day 

immersive event on the future of 

on-demand urban aviation. This year, 

Jaiwon Shin, associate administrator 

for the NASA Aeronautics Research 

Mission Directorate, participated 

on a panel discussing urban 

aviation in the United States, and 

Parimal Kopardekar participated 

on a panel on low-altitude airspace 

interoperability. In addition, Sandy 

Lozito (NASA Ames Research Center 

in California) also participated 

in a panel on “Urban Airspace 

Operations, from Concepts to 

Reality,” to discuss industry and 

government progress in Urban 

Air Mobility (UAM) airspace 

management, and shared NASA’s 

experience with UAM, Unmanned 

Aircraft System Traffic Management 

Technical Capability Level 4 testing, 

and the UAM Grand Challenge. 

More information is available 

online at: https://www.uber.com/

us/en/elevate/summit/2019/

ASCE ICTD Panel on 

Airspace Integration

POC: PARIMAL KOPARDEKAR

The American Society of Civil 

Engineers (ASCE) held its annual 

International Conference on 

Transportation and Development 

in Alexandria, Virginia, on June 

12. The purpose of the conference 

was to facilitate the exchange of 

information, knowledge, and best 

practices among transportation 

and development practitioners and 

researchers, public infrastructure 

owners, policy makers, government 

engineers and planners, operations 

managers, and leading academics 

from around the world. This year’s 

conference, themed, “Engineering 

Smart Mobility for the Smart City,” 

covered all modes of transportation 

with heavy focus on the application 

of technology in transportation and 

development. Parimal Kopardekar 

was invited to speak on Unmanned 

Aircraft System Traffic Management 

and the future of unmanned systems 

in urban airspace during a panel 

moderated by Brent Ingraham, 

Unmanned Systems, Office of 

the Undersecretary of Defense. 

2019 USA/Europe Air 

Traffic Management R&D 

Seminar (ATM 2019)

POC: SANDY LOZITO

The 13th USA/Europe Air Traffic 

Management (ATM) Research 

and Development (R&D) seminar 

was held in Vienna, Austria, from 

June 17–21. There were over 60 

technical presentations in several 

ATM research themes including 

trajectory management, weather, 

Unmanned Aerial Systems, and 

Urban Air Mobility (UAM). Keynote 

speakers represented government, 

industry, and academia, and included 

representatives from Eurocontrol, 

the FAA, and Uber Elevate. The 

seminar also hosted a panel focused 

on the future of UAM, “Where 

will Urban Air Mobility be in 20 

years?” moderated by Sandy Lozito 

of NASA and Munish Kurana of 

Eurocontrol. Two papers with NASA 

UAM Panelists: Munish Khurana (Eurocontrol), 

Natesh Manikoth (FAA), Joerg Mueller (Airbus), 

John Hansman (MIT), Francois Sillion 

(Uber Elevate), Parimal Kopardekar (NASA), 

Markus Klopf (Frequentis), Sandy Lozito (NASA).
AOSP NEWSLETTER // APR-JUN 2019 21

RECOGNITION

authors were selected as “Best Paper 

in Track” for the seminar: “Accrued 

Delay Application in TrajectoryBased Operations,” by Husni Idris, 

Christopher Chin, and Tony Evans; 

and “Using Wind Observations 

from Nearby Aircraft to Update 

the Optimal Descent Trajectory in 

Real-Time,” by Ramon Dalmau, 

Xavier Prats, and Brian Baxley.

AOSP Participates in the AIAA 

Aviation 2019 Conference

POC: KATHY LEE

The American Institute of 

Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) 

held its Aviation 2019 Conference 

in Dallas, Texas, from June 17–21. 

The conference included numerous 

contributions from NASA’s AOSP. 

Gano Chatterji, from NASA’s Ames 

Research Center in California, served 

as one of the forum’s technical chairs. 

AOSP authors were represented in 

seven technical papers as principal 

or co-author, including two papers 

on the growing topic of Urban 

Air Mobility (UAM). UAM was 

a focus of multiple forums and 

technical paper sessions. AOSP 

authors also presented papers 

on airport surface operations, 

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) 

in the National Airspace System, 

UAS Traffic Management, and 

cyber-physical security systems. 

The Elevated Future of 

Mobility: What’s Next on the 

Horizon? — Paris Air Show

POC: PARIMAL KOPARDEKAR

On June 18, in the U.S. Pavilion 

of the Paris Air Show, Parimal 

Kopardekar was invited to join 

“The Elevated Future of Mobility: 

What’s Next on the Horizon?” panel 

to discuss work being done in the 

Unmanned Aircraft System and 

Urban Air Mobility communities. 

Robin Lineberger (Deloitte) 

moderated the panel, which included 

the other following panelists: 

Antonio Campello (EmbraerX), 

Francois Sillion (Uber), and Earl 

Lawrence (FAA). The Paris Air Show 

is a major international venue with 

a wide audience of aviation business 

and government leaders. The 

panelists specifically discussed the 

needs and issues to mature the Urban 

Air Mobility ecosystem. Topics 

included eVTOL manufacturing, 

infrastructure, coordination with 

regulators, operators and smart city 

planners, airspace management, 

and technology related challenges. 

Patent Issued for UTM

POC: PARIMAL KOPARDEKAR

On June 25, U.S. Patent No. 

10,332,405 was issued for the 

Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic 

Management (UTM) invention. 

This is a significant milestone 

achievement for Parimal Kopardekar 

of NASA’s Ames Research Center 

in California, and everyone who 

has contributed to the UTM 

project since its inception. 

From left: Ken Stewart (AirXOS), Parimal 

Kopardekar (NASA), Earl Lawrence (FAA), 

Antonio Campello (EmbraerX), and Francois 

Sillion (Uber) are seated on a panel moderated by 

Robin Lineberger (Deloitte).
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Headquarters

300 E. Street, SW

Washington, DC 20024

www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch

www.nasa.gov