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Vantis Secures FAA Acceptance for BVLOS Drone Operations

The Fed­er­al Avi­a­tion Admin­is­tra­tion (FAA) has grant­ed a sig­nif­i­cant Let­ter of Accep­tance (LOA) to Van­tis, North Dako­ta’s statewide unmanned air­craft sys­tem (UAS) net­work. This land­mark deci­sion acknowl­edges Van­tis’ role in ensur­ing safe­ty for beyond-visu­al-line-of-sight (BVLOS) drone oper­a­tions, mark­ing a piv­otal moment for the com­mer­cial drone indus­try in the Unit­ed States.

Northern Plains UAS Test Site Logo
North­ern Plains UAS Test Site Logo

Vantis: A New Era for BVLOS Drone Operations

The North­ern Plains UAS Test Site (NPUASTS) recent­ly announced that the FAA has offi­cial­ly rec­og­nized Van­tis as a cru­cial safe­ty mit­i­ga­tion tool for BVLOS drone oper­a­tions. This accep­tance under an exemp­tion paves the way for recur­ring BVLOS flights, accel­er­at­ing the growth of the com­mer­cial drone sec­tor across the nation.

Preparing a drone for flight
Prepar­ing a drone for flight

Streamlining the Path to BVLOS Flights

Thanks to this LOA, com­mer­cial drone oper­a­tors can now lever­age Van­tis’ advanced ser­vices, such as col­li­sion avoid­ance, to expe­dite the waiv­er process for BVLOS oper­a­tions. This marks a sig­nif­i­cant shift from rely­ing sole­ly on oper­a­tional restric­tions, towards a more proac­tive approach to sys­temic risk man­age­ment.

Vantis: The Operational Backbone for Safe BVLOS Operations

“This com­pre­hen­sive approach moves away from rely­ing sole­ly on oper­a­tional restric­tions, focus­ing on sys­temic risk man­age­ment,” said Jeff Richards, ATM Oper­a­tions Expert at Thales, the tech­nol­o­gy part­ner for Van­tis. “Van­tis acts as the oper­a­tional back­bone, pro­vid­ing oper­a­tors with a lev­el of sup­port and safe­ty that can be ref­er­enced direct­ly as a risk mit­i­ga­tor for com­mer­cial BVLOS oper­a­tions.”

A Blueprint for Future BVLOS Operations

The LOA serves as a tes­ta­ment to the FAA’s thor­ough review of the Van­tis sys­tem. It can be used as a ref­er­ence for future oper­a­tors seek­ing to con­duct sim­i­lar BVLOS oper­a­tions, poten­tial­ly stream­lin­ing their approval process.

Vantis: Cost-Effective and Scalable BVLOS Solutions

“Requir­ing com­mer­cial UAS oper­a­tors to bring their own infra­struc­ture is cost­ly, time-con­sum­ing, and doesn’t scale,” said Erin Roesler, Deputy Exec­u­tive Direc­tor for Van­tis. “Van­tis is the solu­tion: a shared-use suite of ser­vices to sup­port repeat­able and scal­able UAS oper­a­tions.”

Erin Roesler, Deputy Executive Director for Vantis
Erin Roesler Deputy Exec­u­tive Direc­tor for Van­tis

Expanding Operational Capabilities with Vantis

Doug McDon­ald, Gen­er­al Man­ag­er of ISight, expressed his enthu­si­asm about the LOA, stat­ing, “This LOA enables us to expand our oper­a­tions to per­form BVLOS flights in Van­tis ser­vice vol­umes. This both enhances our oper­a­tional capa­bil­i­ties and the val­ue we deliv­er to our cus­tomers.”

Vantis Continues to Grow

Van­tis is active­ly expand­ing its cov­er­age to new areas, fur­ther solid­i­fy­ing its posi­tion as a leader in enabling safe and effi­cient BVLOS drone oper­a­tions.

Drone on temporary landing pad
Drone on tem­po­rary land­ing pad

Parting Thoughts

The FAA’s accep­tance of Van­tis rep­re­sents a major stride towards the wide­spread adop­tion of BVLOS drone oper­a­tions in the Unit­ed States. By pro­vid­ing a robust and scal­able infra­struc­ture for safe BVLOS flights, Van­tis is poised to unlock new pos­si­bil­i­ties for com­mer­cial drone appli­ca­tions, dri­ving inno­va­tion and eco­nom­ic growth across var­i­ous indus­tries. As Van­tis con­tin­ues to expand its reach, we can antic­i­pate a future where drones play an even more inte­gral role in our dai­ly lives, trans­form­ing the way we work, live, and inter­act with the world around us.

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