By Sebastian Babiarz, GUTMA Co-president, Amanda Boekholt, GUTMA Treasurer, Koen De Vos, GUTMA Secretary-General.,Emmie Derbäck, InterUSS Platform Outreach Committee
The federated UTM system works well to keep beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations safe. The US Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) North Texas UTM Key Site Operational Evaluation and the industry-developed US UTM Implementation can now point to ongoing commercial and public safety operations reflecting that the strategic coordination works well to mitigate UA-to-UA (Uncrewed Aircraft) collision risk on the basis of ASTM standard F3548-21. That is the result of months of hard work of the participating companies in the Operational Evaluation – and for sure there still is a lot of work to do. Yet, the contours of the future drone ecosystem have become clear. We now have a validated foundation for safe, automated and scalable systems to support BVLOS operations. This is not a demonstration or a trial – these are daily operations in the North Texas skies with US UTM Implementation participants also joining from New York, North Carolina, and Utah.
This article explores key takeaways from the GUTMA Harmonized Skies 2024 conference held in Fort Worth, Texas and the operations spanning Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas (DFW). It examines the roles industry and regulatory authorities will play in building the drone ecosystem globally, and what these insights mean for future efforts toward a more connected, autonomous digital aviation in a global airspace.
North Texas Shared Airspace – setting a global example
Seeing is believing, and what a remarkable sight it was. The backbone of a federated UTM has been demonstrated to work well in a global first. A federated UTM requires UTM Service Suppliers (USSs) to strategically coordinate to mitigate UA-to-UA collision risk – and avoid overlapping flight paths in advance. Strategic coordination, together with aggregate conformance monitoring – a systematic process for ensuring drone operations adhere to their planned intent – is a powerful safety instrument in these initial operations that last just a few minutes.
The other leg of a federated UTM is data exchange between USSs. Here the US UTM Implementation leverages the ASTM F3548-21 Standard Specification for UTM UAS Service Supplier Interoperability and aims to establish data-sharing agreements between strategic coordination service providers and supporting operators.
The regulatory protective umbrella
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has created a regulatory environment throughout the national airspace system to kick off operational evaluations. The North Texas Key Site is one of the first industrial consortia to seize on this regulatory opportunity and develop a “community-based, cooperative ecosystem that is separate from, but complementary to, the FAA’s Air Traffic Management (ATM) system”. The ecosystem has the responsibility to demonstrate its technical capabilities and the underlying governance structures between USSs previously qualified as “third-party service providers”), drone operators and Supplemental Data Service Providers (SDSPs) such as fused data on traffic information or weather data.
In addition to airspace restrictions and altitude limits, existing regulatory frameworks, such as FAA Part 107 and Part 135 rules governing small UAS operations and air carrier requirements, apply to ensure operational consistency and safety. These rules form the backbone of compliance for operators at the site. In addition, the FAA has established explicit performance objectives for all UAS activities at the site. These objectives focus on mitigating risks associated with BVLOS operations in shared airspace – and each stakeholder must contribute to the safety objectives.
USSs are expected to use the strategic coordination ASTM standard, officially the “Standard Specification for UAS Traffic Management (UTM) USS Interoperability – ASTM F3548-21”. This standard entails exchange of information and conformance monitoring to accomplish strategic deconfliction to mitigate the risk of UA-UA collision.
The cooperative system in the North Texas Key Site Operational Evaluation is based on the InterUSS Platform DSS, which employs OAuth Token Service for authentication and authorization to keep data exchanges secure and compliant with regulatory requirements. The final quality assurance is the obligation to satisfy the FAA Near-Term Approval Process (NTAP) requirements.
Drone operators may be certified under either Part 135 or Part 107, and they must be able to demonstrate compliance with the BVLOS exemption requirements and to utilize UTM service to manage UA-UA collision risks. Evidently, operators must be able to connect, transmit and receive data on UA operational intent and position data.
SDSPs must be able to interface with drone operators or USSs and must also satisfy the FAA NTAP requirements – a learning process for both industry and authorities.
Altogether, the FAA is actively implementing a “risk-appropriate” strategy to allow the industry to test technologies and the mitigating power of UTM services. Throughout the evaluation, the FAA is closely monitoring all operations at the site, employing a combination of real-time oversight and data analysis to assess compliance and identify areas for improvement. At least, the open approach also allows for understanding the market appetite for drone services.
Industry collaboration in the shared airspace
The drone industry is making remarkable strides in service provision, with North Texas standing out as a hub of adoption and innovation within the US UTM Implementation project. Drone deliveries are no longer a novelty here—they’ve become a seamless part of daily life. Locals are embracing the convenience of getting last-minute groceries flown directly to their doorsteps, showcasing how quickly drone services are gaining traction. This growing acceptance reflects the momentum of drone delivery services in the region, a testament to the pioneering companies that created demand and scaled their operations in the North Texas shared airspace.
Scaling, however, demands more than operational efficiency and cost-effective automation; it requires a robust commitment to safety, particularly in preventing UA-UA collisions. Stakeholders in drone delivery have united to build an ecosystem that supports the implementation of ASTM F3548-21, a standard for strategic deconfliction. Through approval frameworks like NTAP and Letter of Acceptance (LOA), the FAA enables UTM interactions to underpin these operations and ensure safe airspace management.
Harmonized Skies showed how the industry embraces innovative technology solutions by ensuring legal frameworks like Data Sharing Agreements based on the GUTMA’s Data Sharing Agreement template. The template is being adapted to formalize relationships between USSs and operators, ensuring equitable airspace access. These agreements also streamline onboarding processes for new service providers, incorporating “gates” of automated testing. These automated testing processes enhance industry participants’ maturity and improve data exchange quality, aligning with the service-level expectations of USSs, drone operators, and regulators.
Together, these efforts showcase how industry collaboration drives the safe, scalable future of drone delivery and airspace integration.
The industry must take the initiative and drive innovation not only in technology but also in regulatory frameworks. North Texas exemplifies a successful synergy between the National Aviation Authority (NAA) and the industry ecosystem, demonstrating how collaboration can fuel progress.
GUTMA, as an association, plays a pivotal role as the ecosystem facilitator, a role underscored by the rich participation at Harmonized Skies 2024 and the appreciation expressed by the FAA and industry leaders alike.
Conclusion – A call for shared airspace
The North Texas UTM Key Site Operational Evaluation is the first step in building a robust drone ecosystem. The pillars of this federated UTM have been demonstrated to work well. The governance and data exchange processes are a solid basis for developing the market structures. The important message is that North Texas can be replicated in areas with similar airspace structure (such as Mode C Veil airspace, where all aircrafts are conspicuous) and with similar level of mitigation against conflict with crewed aircraft. And US UTM Implementation participants are already joining from several other areas, including Utah and New York.
If North Texas is a national best practice, to what extent is it also a global trendsetter? While everybody is eagerly waiting to see the first draft of the so-called “BVLOS rules” for consultation, strong similarities are emerging between the US and other regions, including Europe. Comparing an emerging US regulatory framework, it appears that the FAA is systematically using UTM services as a particular set of services to support BVLOS, instead of just referring to “Third-party services” – meaning not the traditional ATC services provided by the FAA Air Traffic Organization. This implies the necessity for USSs to manage internal coordination and data exchange. This is the DSS of the InterUSS Platform.
Secondly, even if the current North Texas Operational Evaluations have to focus on strategic coordination, the operators are also using identification and geo-awareness data, which then would closely mirror three out of four mandatory services of the European U-space regulation. Thirdly, the operators and providers need to merit their waivers and Letters of Agreement – in anticipation of an approval system, generally expected once the BVLOS rule becomes formally applicable. Fourthly, as proof of convergence between the US and EU systems, the same international standard can be used to satisfy the two regulatory requirements. The relevant ASTM standard F3548-21 also includes aggregate conformance monitoring, one of the non-mandatory U-space services. This convergence means that the expertise that one of the candidate UTM providers built up in the Operational Evaluation can be used in its ongoing EASA certification process.
In any case, these elements give strong confidence that the North Texas Operational Evaluation is a global lighthouse. The next steps should then focus on expanding the airspace where drones can operate and progressing priority mechanisms. Conspicuity of General Aviation is the elephant in the room. Europe is showing some direction to go, where EASA is opening up e/i-conspicuity on the basis of a wider range of technologies, including ADS-L, a conspicuity technology derived from ADSB and compatible with non-certified equipment transmitting at low power on the licence‐free band SRD‐860.
GUTMA is uniquely placed to build on these promising results and lay the foundations for a robust drone ecosystem and build digital aviation. After all, GUTMA deliverables, such as its Governance and Data Exchange Agreement, have been instrumental in the Operational Evaluation. The deliverables result from the productive interaction between regulators and industry partners.
Let’s work together and continue building. An exciting journey!
