FAA officials to testify at 10 a.m. Wednesday before the Senate Commerce Committee, Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., announced: Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Office Executive Director Jay Merkle and Office of Commercial Space Transportation Associate Administrator Wayne Monteith. Also on tap: Mississippi State University Raspet Flight Research Laboratory Director Dallas Brooks, Airbus Urban Air Mobility Systems Vice President Zach Lovering and Commercial Spaceflight Federation President Eric Stallmer.

The Federal Aviation Administration should “swiftly publish a proposed rule for remote identification of unmanned aircraft systems,” Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and John Thune, R-S.D., wrote Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao Monday (see 1901310043). Remote ID “will enhance safety, security, and privacy, and serve as a critical tool for law enforcement to respond to and address reports of illegal and unauthorized drone operations,” they wrote, citing drone sightings in “safety-sensitive” events like a Boston Red Sox game in April.

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International’s FAA UAS Symposium 2019, postponed from February because of the partial federal shutdown, will take place June 3-5. The conference, at the Baltimore Convention Center, is widely seen as a key public forum on drones. The agenda is being finalized.

Boeing Chief Technology Officer Greg Hyslop met with top staff from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology on spectrum for unmanned aerial vehicles and the future of wireless, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. Hyslop urged the FCC to launch rulemaking proceedings on the adoption of technical and operational rules on the 5030-5091 MHz band for UAVs and an exception in Part 18 of the rules “for the certification of RF-emitting vehicle components consistent with the same exception that has long existed in Section 15.103,” Boeing said. Hyslop and others from Boeing “highlighted the need for additional spectrum available for unlicensed use inside large aircraft and to support wireless systems used in industrial settings for such purposes as automation, worker safety, operational coordination, shipping and receiving, and security, in addition to ... laptops and tablets,” the filing said. “The increases in efficiency made possible through these improvements in communications and control has dramatically increased the productivity of American factories and is driving still greater adoption of networked manufacturing using unlicensed frequencies.” In comments submitted Friday, Boeing also urged the opening of the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use. “There is a substantial need for additional spectrum available for unlicensed use, particularly in frequency bands below 24 GHz,” the company said.

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International’s FAA UAS Symposium 2019, scheduled for February, is postponed due to the partial government shutdown, AUVSI said Thursday. New dates will be announced after furloughed FAA employees return to work, AUVSI said.

The FAA released long-awaited proposed rules that would allow drones to fly at night and over people without waivers. Unmanned aircraft systems were a big topic last week at CES (see 1901100025). No federal aviation officials attended because of the partial federal shutdown. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao was expected to speak but instead spoke Monday at the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting. “The proposed rule would allow drones to make routine flights over people without a waiver or an exemption under certain conditions,” Chao said. “These conditions depend upon the level of risk to people on the ground, and are spelled out clearly in the proposal.” DOT released Advance NPRMs on safe and secure operation of drones. Both (see here and here) must be published in the Federal Register. The safety ANPRM “identifies major drone safety and security issues that may pose a threat to other aircraft, to people on the ground or to national security,” Chao said. “It solicits for consideration recommendations to reduce these risks as drones are integrated into our national airspace.” DOT selected the Nevada UAS Test Site Smart Silver State; Northern Plains Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site, North Dakota; and the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership to participate in the unmanned aircraft systems traffic management system pilot project. “The pilot project, through September 2019, is intended to develop and demonstrate a traffic management system to safely integrate drone flights within the nation’s airspace system,” DOT said. “The pilot project will create a shared information network and gather data that can be used for future rulemakings."

Due to the government shutdown, applications for FAA Remote Pilot Certificates are on hold (see 1901080018), jeopardizing operators’ income, aviation groups said Thursday, citing closure of the agency’s UAS Integration Office. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association went to Capitol Hill, urging lawmakers to end the hiatus. Individuals also can’t apply for waivers to operate “what is currently possible in the FAA Small UAS Rule (Part 107),” the groups said.

Satellite communications and imaging and analytics services serving unmanned aircraft systems could be a cumulative $30 billion market through 2027, Northern Sky Research said Tuesday. NSR said that projection is largely driven by satcom revenue, and UAS use is accelerating globally, driven largely by government and military end users. It said the market for UAS airframes, satcom terminals and capacity demand is expected to grow as more countries enter the UAS export market. For smaller UAS, the chief commercial application is imaging, and demand is expected to come from North America, Europe and Asia.

Amazon landed separate patents Tuesday for enhancing the performance of package-delivering drones, one for recharging them while airborne, the other for an airbag to protect packages dropped from them at a “predetermined height,” Patent and Trademark Office records show. Replacing a drone’s battery is one way to extend its service time in delivering packages, says the airborne-recharging patent (10,099,561) naming five inventors and based on a September 2015 application. A big drawback is the drone’s range is limited “to the extent that it must land so that the power supply can be replaced,” it says. The patent describes a "power” drone that can “generate current from electromagnetic fields emanating from one or more conductors of overhead power lines.” The other patent (10,099,786), based on a Jan. 10 application and naming two inventors, envisions an “airlift package protection” (APP) airbag fashioned after a “stunt airbag” that cushions a skydiver’s impact with the ground. The APP airbag would be formed of polyethylene “to create a volume having an inner non-pressurized cavity to contain a package,” it says. Like the stunt airbag, the APP airbag “may exhaust some air upon impact with the ground, thereby reducing the magnitude of deceleration shock to a package contained inside,” it says. Amazon didn’t comment Tuesday.

Echodyne asked the FCC for waiver so it can offer a device that makes ground-based use of the 24.45-24.65 GHz aeronautical radio navigation band. Echodyne originally intended to offer equipment that would operate as an airborne detect-and-avoid radar, consistent with the rules for the band. But industry and government customers want to use the band for ground-based security and surveillance (SSR), Echodyne said in docket 17-352. “This interest has been so strong that Echodyne has created a version of the radar optimized for ground-based use, the EchoGuard,” the company said. “This ground-based SSR radar can scan for drones in the air and vehicles and people on the ground.” This detect-and-alert role for the band “is complementary to the existing service allocation in the band and will not interfere with Echodyne’s use of the band for radionavigation,” the company said.