GC aiming to advance UAM market

NASA has launched a grand challenge aimed at accelerating electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) technology and the urban air mobility (UAM) market. For the many new entrants in the nascent UAM market, the FAA is responsible for aircraft certification, pilot licensing, operating approval and airspace integration and is a critical challenge. To streamline the interface between agencies, the FAA and NASA have formulated its UAM Grand Challenge (GC) as both a proving ground for vehicles and procedures and an environment where industry and regulators can work together to understand the requirements and develop consensus standards for the new market. “The Grand Challenge is a conduit to NASA and the FAA as one entity,” says Starr Ginn, NASA’s GC lead. The plan got a boost from the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) listing eVTOL among the Trump administration’s research and development budget priorities for FY 2021. An initial developmental testing event, GC-DT, is planned for July-November 2020 at NASA’s research center at Edwards AFB, Calif. It will be followed up by the first full event, GC-1, in May-September 2022. Further challenges are expected at yearly intervals. “We aim to always be a couple of steps ahead of industry,” says Ginn The primary goal of GC-1 is to accelerate the UAM market by collecting flight data to help the FAA develop test procedures, data requirements and compliance methods for eVTOL vehicle and pilot certification as well as operational approval. NASA wants to have agreements in place with three American-only eVTOL manufacturers by the end of December. Over successive events, the GC will move into more realistic airspace and airports. Ginn expects there will be a need for UAM test sites similar to the FAA-approved unmanned-aircraft test sites now operating. “And a lot of cities are leaning forward to offer the opportunity,” she says. (Source: Aviation Week 09/25/19) https://aviationweek.com/future-aerospace/nasa-grand-challenge-structured-advance-urban-air-market?utm_rid=CPEN1000002255725&utm_campaign=21567&utm_medium=email&elq2=6bd3219f675848b5ae13b657fde2c79d