Collins Aerospace Systems is entering the final stages of a nine-year project with NASA to facilitate the safe operations of UAS in the National Airspace System (NAS). The project is expected to be completed in September of this year. 

Co-funded by Collins Aerospace, the project has led to the development of a Command Non-Payload Control (CNPC) data link waveform that informed the initial certification standards for UAS Command and Control in the NAS.

Collins Aerospace invested in a series of prototype radios to house the waveform for NASA's flight tests. The baseline for the most recent testing was a C-Band prototype CNPC data link radio called the CNPC-5000. Collins Aerospace says that the CNPC-5000 will continue to be a key component in future research and test flights for other programs.

“CNPC is critical to maintaining positive control of UAS in complex operations within national airspace, such as flights beyond visual line of sight or above 500 feet. We've already applied our CNPC waveform to the FAA's Pathfinder program with BNSF Railway,” explains Heather Robertson, vice president and general manager, Integrated Solutions for Collins Aerospace.

“Our CNPC-5000 data links provide the reliable, safe and secure connection needed to maintain control of unmanned aircraft at all times while operating in the complex environment of controlled airspace.”

Through flights with General Atomics' SkyGuardian, the prototype CNPC-5000 radio will support NASA's System Integration Operationalization (SIO) program. Several CNPC-5000 demonstrations are also planned throughout this year.

Collins Aerospace notes that it invests in additional critical technologies that will help in the integration process of UAS into the NAS. The company has already announced its involvement in the first successful end-to-end flight of General Atomics' SkyGuardian in civil airspace with its Pro Line Fusion integrated avionics system as part of a Certifiable Ground Control Station.

Collins Aerospace’s web-based WebUAS operations management tool has also been used in a variety of test flights and programs to coordinate the multi-node CNPC network, provide real-time situational awareness to flight safety critical information such as link quality, and act as a gateway to weather, air traffic and critical information and services.