Northrop, NASA to Collaborate on UAS Airspace Integration; Tom Jones Quoted

NASA and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) have agreed to jointly develop and test systems that can support the use of unmanned aircraft systems in air cargo operations and the rest of the country’s airspace.

The collaboration falls under the Pathfinding for Airspace with Autonomous Vehicles subproject under NASA’s Air Traffic Management-eXploration program, Northrop said Thursday.

Both organizations will work to define technologies and procedures for the integration of UAS into air cargo vehicles, as well as coordinate with the Federal Aviation Administration and conduct flight readiness reviews, development, simulation and demonstration.

“Partnering with NASA, we will detail requirements and solutions to make it possible for autonomous aircraft, in this case being air cargo, to be integrated seamlessly and safely into national airspace,” said Tom Jones, a corporate vice president and president of the aeronautics systems business at Northrop.

“Our work together will improve airspace access and transform how uncrewed systems are used to transport goods across U.S. airspace and help establish airspace integration critical to future manned unmanned teaming efforts.”