Posts Tagged ‘Federal Aviation Administration’

Release courtesy of NMSU News Center

WRITER: Janet Perez, 575-646-4120, perezjm@nmsu.edu

CONTACT: Steve Hottman, 575-646-9202, shottman@psl.nmsu.edu

New Mexico State University is building a stellar international reputation for its work on unmanned aircraft systems, a fact reflected in the continually growing success of its annual UAS TAAC (Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technical Analysis and Applications Center) Conference.

Entering its 13th year, the UAS TAAC Conference is hosted by NMSU’s Physical Science Laboratory and takes place Dec. 6-8 at the Tamaya Hyatt Regency in Santa Ana Pueblo. The Arrowhead Center, NMSU’s economic development hub, also plays a key role in the conference.

“The significance of a UAS conference in New Mexico continues to grow as we see development of the industry in the state,” said Steve Hottman, associate dean and deputy director for research at PSL. “Our conference efforts have not only attracted the interest and support of industry and government leaders, but also have acted as a great platform for drawing business to the state, as with the recent Vulture project PSL is working on with DARPA.”

On Sept. 30, NMSU announced that PSL had entered a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to assist in the development and lead the flight-testing of the Vulture unmanned aerial vehicle, the prime contractor of which is Boeing. The Vulture II will have a 400-foot wingspan and weigh between 5,000 and 7,000 pounds.

The idea for the Vulture, and NMSU’s involvement in the project, began a few years ago at a UAS TAAC Conference.

“This conference is one of the most respected networking venues in the UAS industry,” Hottman said. “It allows attendees access to leaders they would likely never get otherwise.”

When the first conference was held in 1998, it was one of only a handful in the nation that primarily focused on the civil use of unmanned aircraft systems. Since then, the conference has become a must-attend event for industry and government leaders. This year, representative s from the Department of Defense, NASA, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration, among others, will be on hand. Representatives from aviation user groups, universities and private industry also are expected to attend.

Topics for the conference include airspace access; the use of UAS by law enforcement, homeland security and the military; the availability of spectrum and bandwidth; and the challenges and opportunities facing unmanned aircraft systems. On Dec. 8, a session will be held at a classified location.

“In its 13th year, the TAAC Conference has proven itself to be recession proof,” Hottman said. “In fact, registration for the conference is now closed because we have reached maximum capacity.”

NMSU’s UAS TAAC program has risen to the top of the UAS field through its testing of various UAS platforms. It also has produced a certification roadmap that is serving as a framework for UAS certification. This work has been accomplished largely through the fact that NMSU is the only FAA-authorized UAS Flight Test Center in the United States, which allows UAS operations in the National Airspace System or civilian airspace. Under the FAA agreement, the Flight Test Center can operate flights across more than 15,000 square miles of airspace in southwestern New Mexico. The center’s facilities include a 15,000-square-foot hangar at the Las Cruces International Airport that is dedicated exclusively to UAS operations, as well as offices and technical support on the NMSU campus.

On the economic development front, the Arrowhead Center is creating opportunities for aerospace businesses in southern New Mexico and beyond, partly in tandem with Spaceport America near Truth or Consequences.

For more information on the conference, log onto http://taac.psl.nmsu.edu.

Release courtesy of NMSU News Center

WRITER: Mark Cramer, 575-646-1957, mwcramer@nmsu.edu

CONTACT: Steve Hottman, 575-646-9202, shottman@psl.nmsu.edu

New Mexico State University on Sept. 30 announced that its Physical Science Laboratory is partnering with the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in developing and testing DARPA’s Vulture unmanned aerial vehicle program.

The Vulture II Program, a joint venture between DARPA and Boeing, is centered around a new type of UAV with a 400-foot wingspan, weighing just 5,000 pounds. The objective of the Vulture program is to develop and demonstrate the technology to enable an airborne payload to remain on-station, uninterrupted for more than five years, performing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and communication missions. A mixture of solar cells and solid oxide fuel cells will power the vehicle. The system has potential in numerous roles: operation as a single platform, as a formation of multiple aircraft, or as a constellation providing infrastructure augmentation or recovery.

“This is really exciting,” said retired Air Force Col. T. Bear Larson, who is NMSU’s point of contact with DARPA. “We think this is a great opportunity for you guys to see some of our technology and maybe help us out in areas that you are strong in. We love the facilities out here. Everything about this is exciting to me. This technology intrigues me.”

The program technology enables a re-taskable, persistent pseudo-satellite capability in an aircraft package. It combines the key benefits of an aircraft – flexibility and responsiveness, sensor resolution, reduced transmit/receive power and affordability – with the benefits of space assets, such as on-station persistence, no logistics tail, energy independence, fleet size and absence of an in-country footprint.

“It’s quite an extraordinary accomplishment that’s going to bring plenty of attention to New Mexico State University and possibly similar agreements in the future,” NMSU President Barbara Couture said. “The initial contract is for about $2.5 million, and we expect, if this is successful, for more contracts to be down the road. This is a truly experimental aircraft. It’s going to be a very exciting, unusual mission here right in our back yard in Las Cruces.”

NMSU’s PSL will be involved in addressing a variety of technology challenges for the massive UAV, including developing energy management and reliability technologies capable of allowing the aircraft to operate continuously for five years. The Vulture program will conduct full-scale technology maturation and demonstration activities to prove out critical technologies. Its intent is to advance technology and break the mindset that aircraft are defined by launch, recovery and maintenance cycles. Program success would allow a continuous operating airborne platform to remain on-station for multiple years and would greatly increase capabilities of the Department of Defense. In addition, NMSU/PSL will apply their airworthiness assessment, risk analysis and excellent safety record with unmanned aircraft in developing a safe operation to minimize impact to other airspace users.

NMSU is the only FAA Authorized Unmanned Aircraft System Flight Test Center in the United States, allowing for UAS operations in the National Airspace System or civilian airspace.

The NMSU/PSL portion of the project will continue through the conclusion of flight testing, which is expected to last into the third quarter of fiscal year 2014. DARPA determined that NMSU/PSL was the only entity capable of meeting the unique facilities, airspace and technical expertise required to oversee and conduct the flight testing of the Vulture while also meeting airspace, available frequency spectrum and takeoff and landing requirements.

“We’re going to have a building ready in early 2013 and start assembling the vehicle out here,” Larson said. “Our intent is to fly sorties of less than three hours to understand the airframe, and then start climbing up in altitude, with the culmination a 30-day flight test to demonstrate it can fly. Then we’ll bring it back down and do a forensic analysis on all the components. We’re really looking forward to this.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has given NMSU/PSL permission to build the airport for the Vulture testing on its land at the Jornada Experimental Range, northeast of Las Cruces. The vehicle will require a 3,000-foot diameter circle for level takeoffs. USDA also partners with NMSU/PSL for its UAS program. They use a small UAS for their remote sensing program for ecological applications, including access to airspace, image acquisition, terrain extraction, orthorectification, mosaicking, vegetation classification, geometric and classification accuracies and operational workflows.

Formed though a partnership between the Federal Aviation Administration and NMSU, the UAS Flight Test Center supports the integration of unmanned systems into the National Airspace System and operates the only FAA approved UAS FTC in the U.S. With more than 13 years of experience and expertise in UAS integration, operations and research and development, it collects data during unmanned flights in public, non-restricted airspace to assist the FAA in the development of standards and regulations for UAS operators.

The UAS FTC’s agreement with the FAA allows it to operate flights in more than 15,000 square miles of airspace in southwestern New Mexico. Facilities include a 15,000-square-foot hangar at the Las Cruces International Airport dedicated exclusively to UAS operations, and office facilities and technical support are available on the NMSU campus.

Release courtesy of Spaceport America

LAS CRUCES, NM – For the second consecutive year, Spaceport America has received a federal grant award to help fund new spaceport infrastructure. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grant is worth $249,378 toward the cost of a roll-back vehicle integration building at Spaceport America

The FAA announced the Space Transportation Infrastructure Matching (STIM) grant award on Friday, August 26. The matching grant program was created to ensure the resiliency of the space transportation infrastructure in the United States, which will rely more heavily on the commercial sector for future space activity, research and exploration.

“These matching funds from the FAA are crucial for improving our vertical launch capabilities and expanding services for our launch customers,” said New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) Executive Director, Christine Anderson. The roll-back vehicle integration building will be located inside the Vertical Launch Area (VLA) of Spaceport America and will be able to accommodate the larger vehicles that are under development.

“Currently, we can only accommodate vehicles up to approximately 24 feet long and five feet wide,” said Anderson. “New vehicles under development are much longer, and some have wings for gliding recovery,” explained Anderson.  “The new roll-back vehicle integration building will let us handle these new vehicles as they come on line.”

The roll-back vehicle integration building is projected to cost $498,756, of which the FAA grant will pay for half.

Last year, Spaceport America received its first grant from the FAA. On September 10, 2010, the NMSA announced that the FAA would provide a matching grant of $43,000 to help fund an Automated Weather Observation System III (AWOS III). This system provides timely and accurate meteorological information to aircraft and spacecraft operations at Spaceport America, including visibility information and cloud data.

For more information: http://fastlane.dot.gov/2011/08/spaceport-grants-will-strengthen-commerical-space-industry.html

L&M Radiator photo courtesy of Fred Shepherd

Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin

By Samantha Roberts

The Mesilla Valley of Economic Development Alliance (MVEDA) has been busy this month with meetings, events and behind-the scenes work. The organization, which was incorporated in 1994, is “a public/private sector economic development partnership that serves Dona Ana County,” according to its mission. MVEDA partners with entities in southern New Mexico, such as the City of Las Cruces, Dona Ana County, New Mexico State University, Dona Ana Community College, the Las Cruces Public Schools, the Village of Hatch and the New Mexico Economic Development Department.

“We have begun a business connection series,” said Fred Shepherd, MVEDA business development manager. “We are trying to put together events that address what companies want to see and hear about.”

In addition to monthly business luncheons, MVEDA has other tools in its toolbox, such as business resource guides, assistance programs, business start-up help, educational opportunities and business consultations.

Newest to its resources, MVEDA offered a “commuter package” in collaboration with the City of Las Cruces to L&M Radiator, a worldwide manufacturer of MESABI flexible core heat exchangers that has decided to relocate its El Paso office to Las Cruces. The company purchased the old Coca-Cola bottling plant at 2100 S. Valley Drive.

“We have 60 current employees that will stay with us, and it will be up to them if they chose to move to Las Cruces or stay in El Paso, but we thought this was a nice way to at least show them what Las Cruces has to offer,” said Production Manager Tom Baumchen, in regards to the open house event.

L&M Radiator chartered two buses Saturday, June 4, filled with employees and their families to introduce them to the City of the Crosses. In addition to MVEDA, guests were allowed to peruse several vendors’ booths, including Dona Ana Community College (DACC), Las Cruces Public Schools, the City of Las Cruces, home loan companies, newspaper options and many others. Guests were also treated to a lunch and tour of Las Cruces before going back to Texas.

“We hope this event is the first of many of its kind,” Shepherd said. “We learned a lot from this first experience. For example, someone asked us about child care, and we didn’t have the information to provide them that day, but in the future we will know. And it is obvious, people moving to Las Cruces want to know the best place for their kids to go to school or where they can be safely kept.”

Other than booths, the participants also enjoyed guest speakers, including Margie Huerta, president of DACC, who was able to facilitate a brief question-and-answer session and recognize Las Cruces for its many wonderful opportunities.

“We are excited about the move, and it just came at the right time,” Baumchen said. “The reason for moving here was to continue a longtime partnership we have with TMS Machine Shop, and we found a building that could house both companies.”

Baumchen said the move has already started and anticipates three shifts per week to be operating by Friday, June 17. “We should be all moved over and settled in by the first or second week of August. Overall, we are very eager about being in Las Cruces and thrilled about the tremendous turnout today,” said Baumchen, hinting that an upcoming “phase two” is in the works for the company.

After L&M moves its final belongings to Las Cruces, Baumchen said he anticipates about 30 more hires. “We are bringing 60 people with us, and have already hired 30 more, but I anticipate that with the way work is coming in, we will add another 30 in the near future,” he said.

For Davin Lopez, MVEDA President and CEO, this event helped answer an important question. “For people moving here, where does quality of life fit in?” Lopez asked at the monthly Business on the Border luncheon Tuesday, June 7. “In addition to that, we at MVEDA want to help connect the fact that companies and their people are wanting to move here and are moving here, and how that will impact our local economy.”

L&M Radiator is not the only company making big changes in the area. Keith Beck, vice president and general manager of the Jacobs Technology’s NASA Test and Evaluation Contract (NTEC) at the NASA White Sands Test Facility (WSTF), also gave an update at the Business on the Border luncheon about what is going on at WTSF.

In regard to the number of people who will be out of work due to departments closing and contracts ending, Beck said a majority of the personnel will be maintained.

“We do a lot of stuff that has to do with testing. Anything that goes into space has to go through testing,” Beck said. “We have 420 employees now and as new jobs come, we look to hire internally first. The fiscal year is looking good, and we don’t anticipate another big hit coming anytime soon.”

Beck also said WSTF is constantly looking at new partnerships to create jobs, such as working with Spaceport America.  “We are currently working on scenarios that Spaceport America could be interested in,” he said. “For example, we are working with nitrous- oxide testing with the (Federal Aviation Administration). We will also have the ability to train people at Spaceport America or provided services as simple as rebuilding a valve on their car so they can get it fixed locally instead of shipping it away.”

At WSTF, Beck is responsible for all rocket propulsion testing, materials and component testing and the processing of flight hardware for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station as well as commercial and military systems. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Christian Brothers University and a master’s degree in engineering management from the University of Tennessee and is a registered Professional Engineer.

The next Business on the Border luncheon will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 5, at Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces, 705 S. Telshor Blvd. The meeting will begin with a hot entrée buffet followed by a brief update by MVEDA staff. Luncheon cost is $20 per person and open to the public.  For more information, call MVEDA at 525-2852.

NMSU photo

Release courtesy of NMSU News Center

WRITER: Dennis Zaklan, 575-646-9417, dzaklan@psl.nmsu.edu

From May 2-4, New Mexico State University’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Test Center supported AAI Corporation’s Shadow 200 Tactical UAS in conducting flights over the skies of Hatch, N.M. These were four-dimensional flight tests in support of efforts by the Federal Aviation Administration Tech Center to further UAS flights in the National Airspace System.

NMSU’s UAS FTC is the only FAA-approved FTC in the nation. The FAA and NMSU developed the center to provide a place for manufacturers, government agencies and other developers or operators to safely test fly, demonstrate and train their UAS.

During these flight tests, the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Program Office had several representatives on-site to observe and review the NMSU procedures and view the chase plane operations to assist them with moving forward on developing safe procedures that will enable UAS more access to the NAS in the future. The chase plane provides the UAS pilot-in-command with eyes in the sky, enabling the UAS to see and avoid other aircraft during flight away from the launch/recover location.

Three specific types of flights were reflected. The first was the checkout flight for the system to ensure the entire system was functioning properly before any test flights could occur. The second type was performing the link-up between the chase plane and the unmanned aircraft. The actual link-up went extremely well because of the outstanding procedures discussed by the UAS FTC operations staff and the AAI flight team. All parties were amazed at how smoothly it went, which is a tribute to very well developed procedures and the aviation experience on both teams. The two teams meshed very well, and this enabled the 4DT test flights and demonstration to be performed safely within the NAS.

The 4DT test and demonstration flights are part of a step-by-step process to develop and validate that UAS’ will be able to fly with manned aircraft in the future and have the ability to perform avoidance maneuvers for safety of flight. These tests being performed by the AAI Shadow TUAV, with software developed by General Electric Company on board the UA and in the ground control station, proved that the UA could perform maneuvers when receiving input from another source. The 4DT demonstration was conducted shortly after noon on May 4, with several of the flight cards that had been flown earlier as part of the testing. Representatives from the FAA Tech Center, the UAPO and Hatch Mayor Judd Nordyke viewed the demonstration.

The test flights proved the viability of the UAS FTC with AAI Corporation, one of the largest UAS manufacturers in the U.S. Discussions are ongoing to further the relationship and perform additional UAS flights in the UAS FTC’s 15,000 square miles of FAA-approved airspace.