NASA's Experience Navigating the FAA's Near-Term Approval Process for UTM Services

The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Near-Term Approval Process (NTAP) for Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) third party services providers (3PSP) provides a means to evaluate and authorize the use of UTM services. This process will expedite the approval of UTM 3PSP in low-risk operations to ensure National Airspace System (NAS) safety prior to rulemaking. It is not intended to be a certification process or support complex airspace operations at this time. At the successful completion of NTAP, a Letter of Acceptance (LOA) is issued to the Service Provider based on the UAS Champion Operator waiver/exemption.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) participated in the FAA NTAP as a UAS Service Supplier (USS), providing strategic coordination for NASA’s Smart Mobility UAS operating group at NASA Ames Research Center. Smart Mobility will operate their UAS vehicles using the NASA UAS Service Supplier (NUSS) under Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) conditions.

This technical memorandum describes NASA’s experience navigating the NTAP process using the NUSS, and the NASA UAS operations team, Smart Mobility, as the Champion Operator. This document also shares feedback and responses encountered to satisfy NTAP requirements and illustrates methods of demonstrating the required criteria, which may be considered by Operators and Service Providers when pursuing an LOA through NTAP.