Committee to Develop Standards to Support Integration of sUAS into U.S. National Airspace System

ASTM International Committee F38 on Unmanned Aircraft Systems was recently requested by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to assist with the development of industry consensus standards to support the integration of small unmanned aircraft systems into the U.S. national airspace system.

Following a model that was successfully used for the integration of light sport aircraft some years ago, the FAA is considering the issuance of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking first, followed by a Special Federal Aviation Regulation that would permit sUAS to fly in the national airspace system for compensation or hire. Prior to any such sUAS operations, the FAA would require operators to comply with rules and standards to ensure the safety of other airspace users as well as persons and property on the ground. In August 2009, the FAA queried standards development organizations regarding their ability to create a finite set of standards that would be uniquely applicable to this sector; ASTM Committee F38 was one of only two bodies approved to perform this groundbreaking work.

During an F38 strategic planning meeting held in February, FAA representatives provided preliminary guidance and choices for a suite of priority standards. The members of F38 then built a framework for this standards work, assigned technical leads and committed to a timeline for completion. The result is an aggressive standards development program that includes 14 new standards to be developed by October of this year as well as a list of additional standards that have been placed in the queue. Technical personnel from all disciplines, including pilots, sensor operators and engineers, are being sought to assist the committee in this process.