UAS Service Supplier Network Performance

This report summarizes the performance of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Service Suppliers (USS) in the Technical Capability Level 4 (TCL4) flight test performed by NASA and its partners in support of the UAS Traffic Management (UTM) concept. TCL4 is the final in a series of TCL demonstrations of a traffic management system for small UAS (sUAS). All demonstrations have been executed in collaboration with industry partners. The [FAA 2018] UTM Concept of Operations document describes UTM as:...the manner in which the FAA will support operations for predominantly sUAS operating in low altitude airspace. UTM utilizes industry’s ability to supply services under FAA’s regulatory authority where these services do not currently exist. It is a community-based traffic management system, where the Operators are responsible for the coordination, execution, and management of operations, with rules of the road established by FAA. UTM is designed to support the demand and expectations for a broad spectrum of operations with ever-increasing complexity and risk. UTM should be considered a collection of services rather than a monolithic application. The following section describes the architecture at a high level. For further insight, the FAA’s concept document [FAA 2018] or NASA’s earlier concept publication [NASA 2016] should be consulted.