• Why is UTM Needed? 

► FAA small UAS forecast - 3.9 million total, 

0.7 million commercial by 2022 

■ Many use cases: package delivery, news 

collection, precision agriculture, 

infrastructure inspections, public safety, 

disaster response, etc. 

► New entrants desire access and flexibility 

for operations 

► Current users want to ensure safety and 

continued access 

► Regulators need a way to put structure as needed 

■ Current approach for air traffic control of manned aircraft won't scale up for small UAS operations 

■ Need to assure safe integration into the National Airspace 

2 
What is the UTM System? • ► UTM is an "air traffic management " ecosystem 

for small UAS in low-altitude airspace 

► UTM utilizes industry's ability to supply services 

under FAA's regulatory authority where these 

serv ices do not exist 

► UTM development will enable the management 

of large scale, low-altitude UAS operations Credit : FAA 

- Address beyond visual line of sight UAS operations under 400 ft. AGL 

- Define roles/responsibilities of FAA, operators , and other stakeholde rs 

- Define information architecture , data exchange protocols, software 

functions 

- Recommend performance requirements 

3 
UTM Project Summary • ► Objective 

- Develop and validate airspace operations and integration requirements to enable safe, large-scale 

UAS operations in low-altitude airspace. 

- Provide prototype (software) UTM system for further FAA testing and development 

► Approach 

- Partner with FAA, industry, and academia to design and develop prototype UTM system 

- Develop Concept of Operations, Use Cases for anticipated operations and integration with ATM 

- Field test UTM system and vehicle/ground technologies in progressively complex environments 

► Outcomes 

- Validated system requirements and technology transfer to FAA and industry 

- Inform regulators on beyond visual line of sight operations and operations over people 

to support future rulemaking 

- Provide guidance to industry and standards organizations 

- International promotion of UTM concepts and architecture 

4 
UTM Service-Based 

Architecture • • •• • • • 

Deployment 

. 

• 

,··-------

Industry Development 

'·& Deployment ------- • 

lnll<-<latapmvlder 

commt.ricallonand 

000Rllnallon 

Coosllai~ts Directives 

Requests, Decisions 

,_.uss 

communlcallon 

and 

Terrain 

Waalllar 

~nee

-

------ Ope =~rali ="o=~DeviatioM 

·on 

requests 

Real--time 

inlonna . 

Operations 

Cooslralnts 

Modifications 

Notifications 

Information 

COLOR KEY: 

5 
Technical Capability Levels (TCL) Progression for 

System Development and Testing • 

Completed 2015 Completed 2017 Completed 2018 Planned 2019 

6 
TCL 3 Flight Demonstration Scope 

► Demonstrate and evaluate the Concept of Operation, functional designs, and 

technology prototypes 

► Test objectives 

- Concept of Operation for a range of applications .. ••··········••·········•• Griffi s s In t ernationa l Airport 

- Communication, Navigation, & Surveillance 

where command signals and GPS services are 

impaired 

Sense and Avoid other drones and manned To,cas A&M Univ ersi ty • Corpu s Chri s ti 

aircraft 

- Data Exchange between system components in 

normal and contingency conditions. Selected UAS Test Site Operators ~ ~ 

Federal Aviation

Administration 

► Tests conducted at six FAA designated UAS Test Sites from March-May 2018 

► All sites connected to the UTM system and testing coordinated from the 

Airspace Operations Lab, ARC 

7 
Summary • ► UTM Project is successfully developing the framework for large 

scale, small UAS traffic management. 

► Completed TCL 1, 2, and 3 Demonstrations included many testing 

organizations, industry, and academia partners that are crucial to 

validating requirements and investigating technology solutions 

► NASA and the FAA are closely collaborating to ensure appropriate 

regulatory and operational requirements are included and that 

technology transfers support the development of future operational 

systems 

8