Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)
Biden Says He Will Nominate Former F.A.A. Deputy to Lead Agency – New York Times
“President Biden announced on Thursday that he planned to nominate Michael G. Whitaker, who served as the No. 2 official at the Federal Aviation Administration during the Obama administration, to become the agency's next permanent leader. Mr. Whitaker currently serves as the chief operating officer for Supernal, a Hyundai Motor company that is developing air taxis.”
FAA Pushes Remote ID Mandate to March 2024 – Commercial UAV News
“Citing ‘unanticipated issues that some operators are experiencing finding some remote identification broadcast modules,' the FAA announced that its Remote ID Rule will go into effect on March 16, 2024 instead of the original date of September 16, 2023. The extension follows the FAA's recent announcement that it has changed how it will perform safety risk management (SRM) assessments and made revisions to its national policy order concerning the management of applicants' requests to operate uncrewed systems.”
Zipline Gets FAA Approval for BVLOS Drone Deliveries – Avionics International
“The Federal Aviation Administration has granted authorization to Zipline International, Inc., to initiate commercial package deliveries using drones that operate beyond the operator's visual line of sight (BVLOS) around Salt Lake City and Bentonville, Arkansas. This decision represents a significant stride in the FAA's mission of integrating drones into the National Airspace System.”
Advanced Air Mobility
Bristow and Volocopter Partnership Set to Advance UAM Services in UK and US – Airport Technology
“Leaders in vertical flight solutions, Bristow Group and Volocopter have signed an agreement to develop passenger and cargo services for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in the US and the UK. As part of the agreement, Bristow has placed an order for two VoloCity aircraft, which will be delivered upon certification, with the option to acquire an additional 78 aircraft in the future.”
Joby Aviation to Build Air Taxi Production Plant in Ohio – Reuters
“Electric aircraft maker Joby Aviation will invest up to $500 million to build a new facility in Dayton, Ohio, where it will mass produce air taxis, it said on Monday. The 140-acre site at Dayton International Airport is set to be the first serial production location for the company, as opposed to the prototypes built at its pilot production line in California.”
FAA Approved Nation's First Public-Use Vertiport in Blackstone, Virginia – KTLA5
“In a significant milestone for the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) industry, the FAA has issued the first conditional approval for a Vertiport at Allen C. Perkinson Blackstone Army Airfield (KBKT), in Blackstone, Virginia. This action creates a path for the airport to establish the first licensed public-use Vertiport in the state and the nation. NAVOS Air, a Virginia-based air navigation services company, was the proponent of the Vertiport, as part of a project funded by the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) through the Virginia Commonwealth Center of Innovation for Autonomous Systems (C2IAS) grant program.”
Technology, Environment and Legislation
Sunak Dilutes Green Agenda, Delays UK Ban on New Petrol Cars – Bloomberg
“Prime Minister Rishi Sunak softened key parts of the UK government's green agenda, including a ban on petrol car sales, as he set out what he called a ‘new approach' to tackling climate change. Sunak said in a speech on Wednesday in London that he would push back by five years to 2035 a plan to bar the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, casting the decision as an effort to protect families struggling with bills.”
Looking to Space in the Race to Decarbonize – New York Times
Ali Hajimiri thinks there's a better way to power the planet — one that's not getting the attention it deserves. The Caltech professor of electrical engineering envisages thousands of solar panels floating in space, unobstructed by clouds and unhindered by day-night cycles, wirelessly transmitting massive amounts of energy to receivers on Earth.”
Most of the World's Wind is Over Deep Water. Floating Machines Can Harvest It. – Washington Post
“The Norwegian prime minister and the country's crown prince were sweating like everyone else, zipped into their North Sea survival suits as they boarded the helicopters to take us out to see the future. The pair, accompanied by press, were here for the official opening of the world's largest floating offshore wind power project. The word doing the hard work in that sentence is ‘floating.' Unlike 99 percent of the world's offshore wind turbines, which are fixed directly to the sea floor in relatively shallow depths, these next-generation machines can be deployed in very deep water, in the outer reaches of ocean space, where they can harvest more powerful, consistent wind.”
Akin Thought Leadership
Autonomous Akin Update - September 2023 (September 12, 2023)
CPPA Takes Aim at Connected Cars in First-Ever Review (August 23, 2023)
Autonomous Akin Update - August 2023 (August 11, 2023)
Congress Takes a Step Forward on Outbound Investment (July 27, 2023)
Autonomous Akin Update - July 2023 (July 6, 2023)
Akin's Mid-Year TMT Report Provides Important Updates on Regulatory and Policy Developments for TMT Leaders (May 25, 2023)
Autonomous Akin Update - May 2023 (May 11, 2023)
Autonomous Systems & Advanced Mobility: 2023 Trends & Predictions (May 5, 2023)
Kayo Sustainable Infrastructure Webinar Recording - Passcode: Fm%!X07T (April 19, 2023)
Events
Women and Drones: 7th Annual Global
Awards
October 25, 2023
Washington, D.C.
The UAS/AAM community will come together to celebrate the preeminent women in business, government and education.
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