www.amazon.com/primeair

Determining Safe Access with a BestEquipped, Best-Served Model for Small 

Unmanned Aircraft Systems

This paper describes Amazon’s proposed approach for determining airspace access for low-altitude 

small unmanned aircraft systems. Amazon anticipates this model will be refined over time, and 

will work in close collaboration with public and private industry on the development of the safest 

system of access for a wide range of applications, not limited to package delivery. 

Best-Equipped, Best-Served

Best-Equipped, Best-Served means that the vehicle equipment, often referred to as equipage, 

network functionality and concept of operations (ConOps) determine whether or not the 

required level of safety—as determined by the relevant performance standards and rules—is

achieved, and therefore, whether access to the airspace is granted. 

Amazon envisions the safe operation of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) as a 

combination of real-time planning and on-board vehicle automation. With this approach, 

required degrees of planning and automation vary based on vehicle capabilities, web-servicebased command and control, and ConOps. These capabilities are expected to be online, with 

the network able to adapt in real time to varying situations, such as changes in weather and 

emergency access needs. 

When looking at equipage, there are a number of critical technologies currently being explored 

in areas like vehicle-to-vehicle communications (V2V), command and control networks, and 

sense-and-avoid (SAA) technology. It is important to note the two distinct types of SAA in 

relation to vehicle equipage: collaborative and non-collaborative. V2V capabilities enable 

collaborative SAA, providing vehicles with a way to communicate directly with each other to 

create awareness and maintain separation. Sensor-based SAA capabilities, however, enable 

non-collaborative separation between vehicles and non-equipped entities, which can range 

from birds to balloons. 

A Formula for Access

Airspace access for manned aircraft is determined by capabilities. For example, communication 

and navigation equipage is required for transit through controlled airspace and to gain access to 

certain airports. Amazon believes a similar model of determining access—one focused on 
Determining Safe Access with a Best-Equipped, Best-Served Model for sUAS, July 2015 2

www.amazon.com/primeair

segregated blocks of airspace below 500 feet and away from most manned aviation 

operations—is the best pathway for safe and scalable sUAS operations. 

Evaluating the vehicle’s equipage and network capability in order to determine performance is 

the first step. Once performance levels have been established, the operator’s ConOps 

requirements will determine whether or not the operator is granted airspace access and can 

safely perform the designated mission. 

The variety of ConOps and vehicle capabilities means there is no one-size-fits-all model. For 

example, an operator with a lesser-equipped vehicle may be able to achieve the required level

of safety if they are flying in a remote area. On the other hand, an operator seeking to fly in an 

urban environment would have to meet a highly sophisticated equipage standard, with both 

robust communications and the ability to avoid other airborne entities and people on the

ground.

Four Classes for Safe Operations

Operators seeking broad airspace access in multiple environments will need to have highlyequipped vehicles. They will also need to minimize interaction with lesser-equipped small 

unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as the occasional manned aircraft flying at low altitude. To 

ensure the safety and integrity of the overall system, it is paramount that all sUAS operators 

understand where they can and cannot safely operate.

It is with this in mind that Amazon envisions four separate sUAS equipage classes: Basic, Good, 

Better, and Best. These classes optimize for safe and efficient airspace operations by creating 

categories of access based on capability. For example, a vehicle with an equipage classification 

of ‘Good’ does not meet the vehicle capability requirements, such as automated collaborative 

deconfliction (via V2V) and non-collaborative SAA, that are needed to perform a complex 

mission in an urban environment. On the other end of the spectrum, operators requesting 

access to execute missions with high complexity must equip in the ‘Best’ class and possess five

equipage elements: (1) geospatial data for safe separation from known hazards, (2) online flight 

planning and management, (3) reliable Internet connection, (4) collaborative V2V SAA, and (5) 

non-collaborative sensor-based SAA. It is Amazon’s position that these five ‘Best’ equipage 

elements are essential for safe, highly-automated operations.

The following table identifies Amazon’s proposed classes, equipage capability examples, and

the resulting airspace access.
Determining Safe Access with a Best-Equipped, Best-Served Model for sUAS, July 2015 3 

www.amazon.com/primeair

Class Equipage Examples Airspace Access 

Basic Radio control Line of sight (LOS) flight in predefined 

low risk locations

Good Basic + Ability to announce and log identity 

location and activity via V2V; ability to receive 

air traffic information, weather data, GPS and 

Wifi; Internet connected via ground control; 

proximity alerting to operator via 

collaborative V2V; basic geospatial data 

Basic + Unrestricted daytime LOS flight 

less than 200 feet in rural operating 

areas; limited operations in suburban 

areas 

Better Good + Autopilot capable of autodeconfliction via collaborative V2V; on-vehicle 

Internet connection; Automatic Dependent 

Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out

capability

Good + Daytime LOS flight less than 400

feet in suburban operating areas; limited 

operations in urban areas

Best Better + Non-collaborative SAA and 

automated deconfliction; reliable on-vehicle 

Internet connection; 4D trajectory planning 

and performance management; geospatial 

data of all hazards to navigation over 200 feet; 

onboard vehicle condition monitoring system; 

alternate landing execution; long-range SAA 

able to detect and differentiate noncollaborative targets and safely deconflict; 

ADS-B In/Out

Better + Beyond line of sight flight less 

than 400 feet in all operating areas, 

including urban, with vehicle-to-operator 

ratios greater than 1:1, transiting 

between 200 feet and 400 feet; daytime 

and/or nighttime; good weather or all 

weather as determined by sensorpackage performance capabilities

The proceeding graphic takes it ones step further and illustrates the relationship between 

vehicle capability, ConOps complexity and airspace access. 
Determining Safe Access with a Best-Equipped, Best-Served Model for sUAS, July 2015 4 

www.amazon.com/primeair

Creating Standards, Enabling Innovation

Aviation authorities, manufacturers and operators around the world have created high 

standards for equipment, operations, reliability, and safety. In order to maintain and enhance 

the level of safety achieved in aviation today for sUAS, aviation authorities should adopt 

performance-based equipage and operating standards. Such standards will allow for the safety 

of the system to improve as the technology improves, rather than locking into a specific set of 

technologies that quickly become outdated. 

It is Amazon’s position that a Best-Equipped, Best-Served model for determining airspace 

access, alongside the creation of four separate sUAS equipage classes, is the safest way to 

usher in this new era of aviation in scalable and sustainable way. Amazon is committed to 

collaborating with industry to help define standards in a way that will provide operators, 

manufacturers and policymakers with a clear understanding of what is needed to operate safely 

in the shared global airspace.