• 28 Oct 2020 08:59 PM
• 0

NASA Increases Support to AAM

Since the beginning of the year, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has expanded its support to advanced air mobility (AAM) developments. In addition to the AAM National Campaign — which will “promote public confidence and accelerate the realization of emerging aviation markets for passenger and cargo transportation in urban, suburban, rural, and regional environments” — and existing eVTOL/AAM research by NASA’s Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology (RVLT) project, NASA has launched a number of working groups and other initiatives.

Supporting the AAM National Campaign, NASA has multiple online working groups on the AAM “Ecosystem,” including community integration, airspace, weather, passenger acceptance and ride quality, autonomy, etc. Collaborating with the US Air Force’s Agility Prime effort to “promote the development of a strong and resilient AAM supply chain that can scale as the market matures,” NASA conducted a request for information (RFI), followed by supply chain working groups. Partnered with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), NASA is holding a series of workshops on eVTOL crashworthiness, and NASA is expected to announce opportunities for companies to partner for crash testing. More information on these efforts can be found on the NASA Aeronautics Research Institute (NARI) website: https://nari.arc.nasa.gov. (Sources: NASA, VFS)