Posted by Adele Scholl on 7/30/2015 to
Christina Mulligan for InterDrone
“The development of an air-traffic system that fully enables the safe
operations of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) in civil airspace,
particularly highly automated vehicles operating beyond line of sight,
is essential for realizing the enormous benefits of this technology in a
safe and responsible manner,” the company wrote in a paper. “A good place to start in creating such a system is to clarify the use of the airspace.”
Under the proposed highway, the sky would be spilt into different
levels of flying: a no-fly zone, a high-speed transit lane, a low-speed
localized lane, and a predefined low-risk lane. Drones delivering goods
such as Amazon Prime Air would fit into the high-speed lane between 200
and 400 feet, while drones used for agriculture, bridge inspection,
videography, etc. would fall into the low-speed localized lane.
“Amazon believes this segregated airspace model will enable safer
overall operations by providing a framework where airspace access is
tied to vehicle capability, and by buffering sUAS operations from
current aviation operations,” the company wrote.
The low-speed localized traffic lane will also be reserved for drones
that aren’t equipped with sophisticated technology such as
sense-and-avoid technology. Drones that use navigation, merging and
sequencing, communication, collision avoidance, and safe self-separation
would fall into the high-speed transit category.
In addition, the company announced it would work with stakeholders
and organizations such as the Federal Aviation Administration and NASA
to help move the model forward.
“Amazon believes the safest and most efficient model for sUAS with
mixed equipage and capabilities is in segregated airspace with a defined
structure for operations below 500 feet, alongside federated, highly
automated, highly available and secure air navigation services. The
public and private sUAS industry should work together to realize this
new concept of airspace operations if we are to bring the remarkable
innovations of sUAS to bear in a safe and responsible way,” according to
the company.