NASA and ResilienX, an aviation safety company, have collaborated to develop new tools to enhance preflight planning and reduce safety risks for advanced air mobility, or AAM, aircraft.
The agency said Friday the tools aim to provide timely and predictive risk assessments in a single platform, ensuring drone and air taxi operators make informed decisions before takeoff. The tools also ensure the safety of both passengers and people on the ground.
AAM Tool Integration & Testing
The strategic partnership conducted a demonstration at ResilienX’s Syracuse, New York, facility in June to evaluate the tools’ integration into commercial systems. NASA developed three specialized services that enable flight operators to submit their flight plans before departure, receive timely risk assessments and make informed decisions about whether to proceed or revise their flight plans. Researchers utilized these services to assess the risks of flying a highly automated aircraft at low altitudes over urban environments.
Under a Phase III NASA Small Business Innovation Research contract, the collaboration builds on earlier efforts to assess weather-related risks. It facilitates the direct technology transfer of NASA’s safety systems into ResilienX’s platform and seeks to enhance the safety of next-generation airspace systems.
NASA’s System-Wide Safety project under the Airspace Operations and Safety program spearheads the initiative, which supports the advanced air mobility mission to provide data, findings and guidance for future air taxis and drones.
