Today’s airspace is evolving with the emergence of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), a new area of aviation focused on the safe integration of highly automated and advanced aircraft. AAM will enable air transportation to operate on a scale larger and more efficient than we’ve seen and includes the integration of autonomous air taxis that transport people. To support and facilitate the expansion of AAM, third-party service providers like SkyGrid can help.
SkyGrid, an AAM Third-Party Service Provider (TSP), enables safe and efficient integration of AAM and highly automated aircraft operations into the global air transportation system. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a third-party service is a distributed service provided by someone other than the vehicle operator or the FAA. SkyGrid provides digital services to help AAM operators navigate the complex operational landscape and scale their services efficiently. This will allow large advanced and autonomous aircraft to integrate into the airspace safely.
Aiding Airspace Integration
SkyGrid’s services address issues in AAM. As autonomous aircraft come to the market, there are challenges integrating and operating them in the airspace. The aviation industry is focused on building AAM vehicles, but there isn’t a way to integrate and operate these into the air traffic management system we have today.
In addition to this, today’s airspace is not configured to support AAM flights to scale. The current air traffic management system needs to accommodate and become more efficient and automated to keep the airspace both safe and accessible to all aircrafts once autonomous flight begins to integrate.
The increase of autonomous operations requires a greater level of surveillance, high-integrity data, and security. Since air traffic controllers won’t have the bandwidth to deal with this increase in flight volume and complexity, TSPs help solve these problems by delivering fully digital services with new capabilities that can operate on the scale that AAM demands.
Commitment to High-Assurance
At SkyGrid, we recognize that the integration of large autonomous aircraft, like air taxis, requires the highest level of safety assurance. Our commitment to high-assurance means our services meet safety regulation that’s required for safe operation. Passenger safety is our priority.
We’ve designed a system to give flight operators, pilots, and remote pilots confidence in operating AAM aircraft, even when they aren’t physically in the aircraft. We use high-integrity data that allows operators and pilots to make the best decisions possible for a flight. We integrate data, infrastructure, access, and traffic to support seamless and efficient air traffic management.
In an urban environment, operators and pilots need to be aware of terrain, obstacles, altitude, hazards, and make smart decisions about when and where it is safe to fly. By combining surveillance, environmental, aeronautical, and navigation data, we provide a common operating picture, smarter strategic planning, and better tactical execution, especially for autonomous aircraft. When a system is highly assured, you know it is safe for flying.
Opening the Skies for Autonomous Flight
The future of aviation is autonomous. To bridge the gap between the current and future airspace, TSPs like SkyGrid provide services that allow flight operators, pilots, air traffic controllers, airspace managers, and more to leverage data in order to safely integrate autonomous aircraft.
AAM brings a promise of increased accessibility and mobility, and at SkyGrid, we believe autonomous flight is routine, efficient, and incredibly safe. Our innovative solutions will enable our customers to overcome challenges and unlock the benefits of AAM for all.
