A company in Fort Worth that develops unmanned aerial systems is working with the FAA to develop industry-wide solutions to include drones in the nation's airspace. Galaxy Unmanned Systems first opened in 2000 with a goal of providing more options for aircraft controlled remotely.
The business evolved to focus on photography at sporting events. In 2009, Galaxy was the first to provide a live, high-definition sports broadcast with an unmanned system.
In 2007, the FAA banned the use of drones for commercial use.
"That really devastated the commercial industry and us specifically because that killed our business," says Galaxy US Chief Executive Jason White. "We were set to do college sports all over the United States."
White says Galaxy US then transitioned to work with the Department of Defense. He says the company earned several contracts from the federal government. When the FAA suggested regulation changes "were on the horizon," they could use their research to integrate remote piloting and autonomous vehicles into the national airspace.
Galaxy US has now been assigned a program manager from the FAA to develop technology for integration and received a waiver to operate drones. White says this can lead to enhanced "urban air mobility."
"We have specific use cases our platforms are good at," White says. "The airship is able to carry heavy payloads, and lots of different payloads while also mitigating risk."
He says drones can be used for photography, aerial taxis and cargo delivery, but he says he hopes the work with the FAA will lead to industry-wide standards instead of limiting approval for individual companies or specific uses.
"We want to be efficient; we want to be open," says Galaxy US Chief Operating Officer Tony White. "We want customers to interact with our product in the open market. We're trying to create standards for that, and help the FAA."
Tony White says a decade of advancements shows the technology already exists to use more artificial intelligence or make aircraft fully autonomous.
"Nothing else needs to be developed to make all this stuff happen," he says. "They're letting driverless cars run around Austin and Houston."
Jason White, the chief executive, says industry-wide standards would allow for the development of "rules of the road," similar to the standards developed among automakers when cars were first becoming commercially viable. He says integrating unmanned aircraft into the national airspace could include individual flight lanes for drones and blimps.
White says air taxis could run from Arlington Municipal Airport to the city's Entertainment District.
"We establish flights within the pattern. Other aircraft know it's there," he says. "Later on, Bell Helicopter maybe does a people mover. The World Cup is coming in 2026. They could fly people in and out of there, and we've taken the time to establish a corridor."
Jason White says Galaxy US' work with the federal government and law enforcement can continue by deploying autonomous or remote-controlled blimps to the border.
"If you wanted some kind of visible deterrent to show we're serious about this, an airship is a great thing to fly back and forth," he says. "You could even put signage on it that says, 'Please go to the port of entry.'"
White says expanded commercial uses could be applied in the same mission. He says aircraft with cameras focused on the border could also have cameras focused on fields in the opposite direction.
"There are farmers out there. They probably want to see their crop yields are working," he says. "We could, literally, just be running these big swaths where we're providing value to commercial customers while also providing a site picture for Homeland Security."
Listen to the full interview here.
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