San Diego, Calif., April 23, 2019 – The Aeronautics Systems Engineering branch at NASA’s Langley Research facility in Hampton, VA has begun test deployments of two Eagle X8s purchased from UAV-America, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SOLUTE, in 2018. The research project they are currently supporting is Safe 2 Ditch, which is a sub-project under Unmanned Traffic Management, or UTM. The NASA engineers’ purchase decision was influenced by positive results from an Eagle XF flown by Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University during an earlier phase of the project.
UTM is an industry phrase that broadly defines systems created to manage drone traffic providing electronic separation in order to prevent drones and manned aircraft from colliding. NASA recently announced that they’ve selected two partners to host the fourth and final phase of its UTM project, which will test systems to safely and effectively manage drone traffic in urban areas in a pair of American cities. Upon finalization of technical details and the nationwide launch, UTM is widely seen as a critical next step toward enabling types of commercial drone operations that require BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line Of Sight) flights operations, including drone deliveries and inspections of assets in remote or hard-to-reach locations such as electric utility corridors, pipelines and railroad rights-of-way.
About SOLUTE Inc.
Headquartered in San Diego, California, SOLUTE is a Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Business with a presence in major U.S. military areas globally. SOLUTE is a recognized industry leader in providing Program Management, Systems Engineering, Business Process Engineering, CyberSecurity/Information Assurance, and other Consulting Services to the U.S. Government and Prime Government Contractors.