Background
Aviation regulators around the world are implementing UAS Traffic Management (UTM), also referred to as U-Space, to support rapidly increasing and highly diverse drone operations. Under UTM, a set of overlapping UAS Service Suppliers (USSs) or Providers (USPs) assist drone operators in conducting safe and compliant operations. USSs share data when required to support services such as strategic deconfliction of flight plans and remote identification, and industry is developing standards for this data sharing through organizations such as ASTM International.
The InterUSS Project provides a forum for collaboration and development of standards-compliant, open source implementations that facilitate communication in the UTM/U-Space environment.
Learn more about the UTM/U-Space environment:
The InterUSS Platform
The InterUSS Platform facilitates communication between USSs by performing two primary functions and is compliant with the draft ASTM standard for Discovery and Synchronization Services. These functions are designed to support the range of UTM/U-Space services:
Discovery
The InterUSS Platform enables a USS to discover other USSs from which it needs to obtain data.
Synchronization Validation
When required to support a service such as strategic deconfliction, the InterUSS Platform validates that the USS has obtained all relevant data from other USSs . This is designed to ensure that the USS assisting the drone operation has complete and up-to-date information about other operations and constraints in the area of that operation.
The InterUSS Platform accomplishes these functions without requiring any personally identifiable information and enables USSs to share data only when necessary. The InterUSS Platform was developed by industry in consultation with regulators and standards bodies around the world. It also provided a framework for interoperability in NASA’s UTM Technology Capability Level demonstrations, the FAA’s UTM Pilot Program, and SUSI and Industry ASTM Remote ID demonstrations.
