Category Filtering: 'policy'
Massachusetts-based Terrafugia, Inc., announced on Jan. 26 that it had obtained FAA Special Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA) airworthiness certificate for its Transition roadable aircraft (with automobile certification to follow in 2022).
On Aug. 14, 2020, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released its FY 2022 Administration Research and Development Budget Priorities policy memorandum. Like last year's memo, eVTOL is again highlighted as a research priority. This 10-page memorandum (M-20-29) emphasizes programs the Administration sees as priorities as agencies develop their fiscal year 2022 budget proposals.
In 2015, NASA began a four-year project to provide guidance for low-altitude (under 500 ft/150 m) air traffic management for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). This UAS Traffic Management (UTM) project set out to define all aspects of lowaltitude traffic management including airspace management and geo-fencing, weather and wind, predict and manage congestion, terrain and man-made objects and safe separation. The program provided problem sets with increasing complexity, from unpopulated land (UTM-1) to autonomous, beyond visual line-ofsight, urban operations (UTM-4).
The Air Force marked the 116th anniversary of the Dec. 17, 1903, Wright brothers flight at Kitty Hawk by issuing a request for information (RFI) aimed at helping foster a new powered flight revolution — electric or hybrid electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft — eventually self-flying.
On Jan. 13, 2020, the Transportation Research Board hosted a panel discussion, "Automation Technology and Transportation," with senior transportation officials to talk about automation technology in the transportation space. Representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) joined two deputy assistant Transportation secretaries to talk about various new technologies and the rulemaking processes governing them.
On Nov. 13, VFS was a signatory of a letter sent to the Trump Administration in support of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) research and development. The letter was written in response to the Aug. 30, 2019, White House Policy Memorandum, “Fiscal Year 2021 Administration Research and Development Budget Priorities,” which included eVTOL.
In response to the Aug. 30, 2019 White House Policy Memorandum, “Fiscal Year 2021 Administration Research and Development Budget Priorities,” which included eVTOL, the Vertical Flight Society and nine other leading associations and professional societies sent a letter to the Trump Administration. This collaborative product came together as a result of coordinating efforts kicked off at the VFS Workshop on eVTOL Defining Challenges.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) are responsible for the interagency coordination and development of technical reports, strategy documents, and policy memos concerning various scientific and technological topics of importance to the Nation.
