Inactive

Air Traffic Management – eXploration (ATM-X) is hereby requesting information through this notice from interested parties for the following: NASA’s Air Traffic Management – eXploration Project (ATM-X)... Air Traffic Management – eXploration (ATM-X) is hereby requesting information through this notice from interested parties for the following: NASA’s Air Traffic Management – eXploration Project (ATM-X) project seeks to obtain information to define a partnership strategy and identify community needs and goals. Background The goals of the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) Airspace Operations and Safety Program (AOSP) include enabling assured autonomy for aviation transformation. The ATM-X Project provides research findings to enable the development of requirements, procedures, and technologies to enable the integration of new vehicles and operations into the National Airspace System (NAS). One new use case that the ATM-X Project is considering investing in is the seamless, scalable, robust integration of large Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for cargo transportation between traditional airports and/or other NAS access points. Unlike the use of small UAS for package delivery, these large UAS are expected to be capable of transporting large amounts of cargo regionally or nationally. It is expected that automated technologies will be necessary for the full integration of seamless, scalable, and robust UAS Cargo operations. The objectives of this request for information (RFI) are to learn about industry plans to invest in UAS Cargo operations, understand the challenges that must be addressed, and help NASA determine a comprehensive partnership strategy to engage industry. NASA is specifically interested in potential industry partnerships to help guide the development of a comprehensive concept of operations for commercially viable UAS cargo operations, which will guide NASA research. NASA is also interested in potential partnerships to conduct collaborative flight tests/demonstration with NASA, which may include an incremental build up. Sub systems and/or autonomous functions may be demonstrated in the 2023 timeframe and a complete integrated system demonstration is desired in the 2025 timeframe. Specific goals of this RFI include: Determine if there is sufficient industry interest in UAS Cargo operations in order to determine if this is an area where NASA should invest Enable NASA to determine the most effective way to partner with industry to achieve the goal of integrating scalable and routine UAS cargo operations into the National Airspace System Obtain technical information on relevant industry efforts such as technology development cycles and overall plans for UAS cargo operations Obtain schedule related information to determine whether NASA’s planned research efforts will provide timely support to the developing UAS cargo industry Obtain a reasonable fiscal rough orders of magnitude (ROM) from Industry with respect to their potential in-kind contributions to guide partnership/acquisition decisions, and ensure the PAAV demonstration can be successfully executed within resources The information gathered through this RFI will inform NASA’s partnership strategy, develop partnership requirements and may or may not be used to engage with specific partners. PAAV Overview The goal of the PAAV activity is to enable seamless, scalable, and robust integration of increasingly automated air cargo operations into the NAS. As previously described, PAAV is expected to provide research to help enable the development of requirements, procedures, and automated technologies needed for the full integration of commercially viable UAS cargo operations in the NAS. In support of the vision to achieve full seamless, scalable, robust integration of automated air cargo operations in the NAS, the ATM-X Project is interested in conducting collaborative concept of operations development and flight demonstrations of UAS Cargo operations with industry partners. Under the current plans, the latest opportunity for these demonstrations is 2025; however, NASA is also interested in learning about earlier demonstration opportunities. A key objective of the PAAV flight demonstrations will be to demonstrate procedures and technologies necessary for gate-to-gate file and fly UAS cargo operations in the NAS. It is expected that automated technologies will be needed for full commercial operations to address items such as surface operations, detect and avoid and collision avoidance, and contingency management (e.g., lost link and off nominal operations). The use of automated technologies that are commercially viable and have a path toward certification and operational use is of significant interest to NASA. The PAAV demonstration is expected to use industry-provided vehicles which may include optionally piloted, manned surrogate and/or remotely piloted aircraft. In addition, PAAV expects to demonstrate automated technologies to enable gate-to-gate UAS cargo operations. Both the vehicle and technologies used in the demonstrations are expected to be on a development path toward a certified system. The demonstration will be a partnership between NASA and industry and include significant coordination with the FAA. Earlier demonstrations may focus on particular technologies or operating environments (e.g., en route, terminal, or surface); however, later demonstrations are expected to focus on the integration of technologies required for file and fly UAS cargo operations. Specific considerations for the PAAV demonstration include: Automated technologies that are necessary to support a viable commercial concept of operations UAS integration focused demonstration flight(s) with one or more partner provided UAS All ground and flight procedures and technologies necessary to implement the proposed UAS mission (gate to gate) All vehicle technologies assessed to determine the most innovative and state of the art solution set that can meet airworthiness expectations for the demonstration The primary objectives of this PAAV demonstration are: Develop concept of operations, driven by industry and vetted with the FAA, that identifies future needs and enabling technologies for the integration of emerging increasingly automated cargo operations into the NAS Identify system requirements and/or standards to address major barriers to routine file and fly increasingly automated cargo operations Identify increasingly automated functions needed for robust and scalable cargo operations and examine necessary changes to existing roles and responsibilities between humans and automation Validate requirements through collaborative flight demonstration Potential collaborators who may consider responding include: UAS Vehicle Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) Cargo Operators UAS avionics and middleware industry representatives Software companies supporting UAS operations Sensor manufacturers Communication/navigation/surveillance providers Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) UAS test sites Ground station system developers, and Others who have capabilities to enable UAS operations in the NAS NASA’s Role & Contribution As part of this RFI, NASA is interested in understanding both the capabilities that industry may be able to provide and what industry needs from NASA. Below are a few areas where NASA may be able to provide support: Simulation risk reduction for flight demos Flight test approvals (FAA, FSRB) Flight Operations COA development and application with the FAA NASA may provide expertise on: Flight test CONOPS Automation Human Autonomy teaming NASA may facilitate discussions with: FAA Standards Organizations NASA Cohesive Strategy and PAAV Technology Relevance Descriptions The PAAV demonstration will be focused on seamless, scalable, robust integration of automated air cargo operations in the NAS for a large UAS capable of carrying cargo between regionally or nationally. Anticipated Benefits of PAAV Outputs from the PAAV flight demonstrations will include flight data collected in a relevant environment that will be delivered to NASA, the FAA and relevant industry standards groups with the expectation that the data collected is open and shared as much as necessary to help inform policies, procedures, and certification standards for autonomous cargo access to the NAS. These outputs from the demonstration will be beneficial to NASA, all collaborating parties, operators, UAS vehicle and component manufacturers, and the FAA. Requested Content for RFI Responses Interested parties are requested to respond to this notice with an information package. The information packages are due no later than January 29, 2021 by 5:00pm (Pacific Time) and shall be submitted via email only to Robert.K.Fong@NASA.gov. Any proprietary information must be clearly marked. This is a request for information only. It is not a procurement commitment to procure services, or a request for proposals. FAR 52.215-3 Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (OCT 1997) is hereby incorporated. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by NASA to form a binding agreement or contract. NASA is under no obligation to issue a solicitation or to enter into any agreement or award any contract on the basis of this RFI. NASA will not pay for any information solicited. No evaluation letters and/or results will be issued to the respondents. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on beta.SAM.gov. Interested firms are responsible for monitoring these sites for the release of any solicitation or synopsis. NASA reserves the right to share all information received in response to this RFI throughout the Government and its support services contractors and to use all information submitted in response to this RFI in NASA's formulation of one or more solicitation(s) seeking competitive proposals related to initiatives described herein. NASA is not requesting competition sensitive or export controlled data that requires protection. However, if it is necessary to submit competition sensitive data to answer any of the questions in this RFI, that data should be clearly segregated and marked as sensitive. NASA will protect such data from public disclosure to the extent permitted under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other laws and regulations. Additionally, any International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or Export Administration Regulations (EAR) restricted information should be appropriately labeled in response to the RFI. Although information contained herein represents current program content and acquisition planning, it is subject to change. The information package should be submitted in MS Word (20-page limit). Responses can be for any or all of the questions and will only be scored on the sections responded to. Please include the following: 1. Desribe your company (e.g., US based, OEM, avionics manufacturer, automation manufacturer, experinace with creating certified aviation products, etc.). 2. Describe your demonstration intention (e.g., flight demonstration description, location and airspace, the demonstration timeline, FAA approvals that will be obtained [COA, spectrum, 91.113 waiver, etc.], anticipated FAA involvement, data that will be collected, and ability to share information publically with the UAS community). 3. Describe the concept of operations for the unmanned aircraft (e.g., business case, how UAS will integration into the NAS and any unique accomidations expected, classes of airspace the vechicle will fly in, types of takeoff and landing infrastructure needed, autonomous functions that facilitate airspace integration, communications architecture and spectrum, vechicle to pilot ratio, any networked ground control stations or handoffs between ground control stations, etc.). 4. Describe details about prospective unmanned aircraft and technologies on the aircraft (e.g., size and weight of unmanned aircraft, Technical Standard Order (TSO) authorised equipment, which technologies will be included, how will they support a commercial concept of operations) 5. Describe your plan for technology maturation (including hardware, modeling and simulation, flight testing, etc.) between the 2021 and 2025, for an initial demonstration in June 2023 and final demonstration in June 2025 (e.g., technology development plans, test plans and verification and validation (V&V), software assurance process (e.g, DO-178), maturity at time of demonstrations, anticipated operational limitations for the demonstration, etc.). 6. Describe your ability to act as an “integrator” by bringing a fully integrated autonomous cargo UAS to the demonstration. 7. Describe any partnership models that you will leverage to achieve the goals of the demonstration (e.g., partnerships between subsystem manufacturers, vehicle manufacturers, and cargo transportation companies). 8. Describe your approach to the Safety & Mission Assurance considerations of the final demonstration (e.g, engineering process, company flight safety processes, safety culture, etc.). 9. Include ROMs for your expected costs, and whether or not you require any NASA support (fiscal or technical). 10. Describe your relationship with the FAA (e.g., COA’s recieved, type certification plans and experience, experimental airworthiness certificates, etc.). 11. Describe the support you desire from NASA. 12. Include any other questions, comments, suggestions, clarifications, and data that would help the agency prepare for the PAAV activity and associated demonstrations. 13. If you previously responded to the “Development of Automated Flight and Contingency Management Technologies for Urban Air Mobility (UAM), Request for Information (RFI)” that was released by NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Project, please feel free to respond to this RFI using your prior response, but provide additional information as necessary to address the specific needs of this RFI (e.g., fight demonstration opportunities). Responding to this RFI: RFI responses must include: • Name of the primary point of contact for the response •Academic faculty or business title • Institution or organization affiliation • Email address• Phone • Identification of other key individuals who collaborated on the RFI response • A brief summary (300 word limit) description of previous work with the US Government on high visability activitieswhich resulted in relevant and significant impact to the industry.