Notice of Industry Meeting, 86977 [2020-28916]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 251 / Thursday, December 31, 2020 / Notices
Issued in Washington, DC, on December
21, 2020.
Brandon Roberts,
Executive Director, Office of Rulemaking.
Petition for Exemption
Docket No.: FAA–2020–0984.
Petitioner: General Atomics
Aeronautical Systems, Incorporated.
Section(s) of 14 CFR Affected:
§ 91.109(a).
Description of Relief Sought: General
Atomics Aeronautical Systems,
Incorporated seeks relief from Title 14
Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR)
§ 91.109(a), which requires civil aircraft
used for flight instruction to have dual
fight controls. The petitioner requests to
conduct customer crew training of
individuals that have not been issued an
FAA pilot certificate under part 61,
when operating, at or above 2,500 feet
above ground level (AGL), a companyowned unmanned aircraft systems
(UAS) issued a Special Airworthiness
Certificate—Experimental Category
(SAC–EC).
[FR Doc. 2020–28915 Filed 12–30–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–13–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Notice of Industry Meeting
Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
AGENCY:
The FAA is hosting a virtual
industry day to introduce the Small
Airport Surveillance Sensor (SASS)
Project to the aviation community. The
FAA will present and discuss the SASS
Project vision, objectives, and project
timelines. The SASS Industry Day will
provide a platform for interested
organizations to learn about the
technical details of the SASS system,
and to potentially collaborate on
projects with the FAA on SASS.
DATES: The virtual meeting will be held
on February 4, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. to
12:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Registrations to attend the SASS
Industry Day must be completed by
January 29, 2021.
Requests for accommodations to a
disability must be received by January
15, 2021.
Letters of Interest from industry to
work with the FAA on SASS must be
received no later than March 12, 2021.
Further details regarding submission of
the Letters of Interest will be provided
during the SASS Industry Day event.
ADDRESSES: This will be a virtual
meeting. Those who wish to attend must
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:28 Dec 30, 2020
Jkt 253001
register via the following Eventbrite
link: https://www.eventbrite.com, search
for ‘‘SASS Industry Day’’ under the
Events, and click on Register. Follow-on
electronic invitations for the virtual
meeting will be sent to the Eventbriteregistered attendees.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Todd Lewis, SASS Project Manager,
Technology Development & Prototyping
Division (ANG–C51), Federal Aviation
Administration, 800 Independence Ave.
SW, Washington, DC 20591; telephone
(202) 267–0875; email: Ronald.Lewis@
faa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
There are over 500 airports in the U.S.
with air traffic control towers. Tower
controllers maintain situational
awareness of surface and nearby
airborne traffic primarily via visual
surveillance, which can be impaired
during times of low visibility or bad
weather. Depending on the airport size,
visual surveillance can be augmented
with various means. Most of the large
airports (surrounded by Class B
airspace) have Airport Surveillance
Detection Equipment—Model X (ASDE–
X) which provides situational awareness
to tower controllers of surface and
nearby airborne traffic. The medium
size airports (surrounded by Class C
airspace) generally lack ASDE–X due to
cost considerations. All aircraft entering
Class B or C airspace are now required
to have ADS–B Out capability.
There are also approximately 350
airports surrounded by Class D airspace
only, which does not require the ADS–
B Out capability. Since aircraft not
equipped with ADS–B capability will
continue to operate at these airports
surrounded by Class D airspace, there is
a need for a low-cost, all-weather
surveillance capability to provide
situational awareness in times of bad
weather and/or low visibility.
The SASS system addresses this need
by employing a novel phased-array
antenna, state-of-the-art digital signal
processing and commercial off-the-shelf
(COTS) hardware. Unlike ASDE–X, the
SASS system only requires two sensor
arrays and a master unit, all of which
are located on the airport grounds. An
SASS testbed has been implemented
and operated at Hanscom Field in
Massachusetts by MIT Lincoln
Laboratory with FAA funding.
The SASS testbed has been used to
demonstrate active (interrogated) and
passive (listen only) surveillance of
Mode S and air traffic control radar
beacon system (ATCRBS) transponders.
The positional accuracy goals of 30 feet
PO 00000
Frm 00077
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
86977
on the airport surface and 0.2 nautical
miles (NM) out to 20 NM range have
been achieved. Based on this
demonstrated performance, the FAA
wishes to begin technology transfer of
the SASS design to industry. The SASS
Industry Day is the first step in this
process.
Each industry member that is
interested in working with the FAA to
engage in the potential further
development of SASS after attending
the SASS Industry Day event must
provide a Letter of Interest to the FAA
which states the organization’s
capability to undertake the development
of the technology, past performance/
history in developing other secondary
surveillance systems, proposed
schedule for developing the technology
and anticipated commercial use for the
technology.
The U.S. Department of
Transportation is committed to
providing equal access to this meeting
for all participants. If you need
alternative formats or services because
of a disability, such as sign language,
interpretation, or other ancillary aids,
please contact the person listed in the
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section.
Issued in Washington, DC, on December
21, 2020.
Brandon Roberts,
Executive Director, Office of Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2020–28916 Filed 12–30–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–13–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
[Summary Notice No. 2020–53]
Petition for Exemption; Summary of
Petition Received; BNSF Railway
Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
This notice contains a
summary of a petition seeking relief
from specified requirements of Federal
Aviation Regulations. The purpose of
this notice is to improve the public’s
awareness of, and participation in, the
FAA’s exemption process. Neither
publication of this notice nor the
inclusion or omission of information in
the summary is intended to affect the
legal status of the petition or its final
disposition.
SUMMARY:
Comments on this petition must
identify the petition docket number and
DATES:
E:\FR\FM\31DEN1.SGM
31DEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 251 (Thursday, December 31, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 86977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28916]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Notice of Industry Meeting
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The FAA is hosting a virtual industry day to introduce the
Small Airport Surveillance Sensor (SASS) Project to the aviation
community. The FAA will present and discuss the SASS Project vision,
objectives, and project timelines. The SASS Industry Day will provide a
platform for interested organizations to learn about the technical
details of the SASS system, and to potentially collaborate on projects
with the FAA on SASS.
DATES: The virtual meeting will be held on February 4, 2021, from 10:00
a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Registrations to attend the SASS Industry Day must be completed by
January 29, 2021.
Requests for accommodations to a disability must be received by
January 15, 2021.
Letters of Interest from industry to work with the FAA on SASS must
be received no later than March 12, 2021. Further details regarding
submission of the Letters of Interest will be provided during the SASS
Industry Day event.
ADDRESSES: This will be a virtual meeting. Those who wish to attend
must register via the following Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.com, search for ``SASS Industry Day'' under the Events,
and click on Register. Follow-on electronic invitations for the virtual
meeting will be sent to the Eventbrite-registered attendees.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd Lewis, SASS Project Manager,
Technology Development & Prototyping Division (ANG-C51), Federal
Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC
20591; telephone (202) 267-0875; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
There are over 500 airports in the U.S. with air traffic control
towers. Tower controllers maintain situational awareness of surface and
nearby airborne traffic primarily via visual surveillance, which can be
impaired during times of low visibility or bad weather. Depending on
the airport size, visual surveillance can be augmented with various
means. Most of the large airports (surrounded by Class B airspace) have
Airport Surveillance Detection Equipment--Model X (ASDE-X) which
provides situational awareness to tower controllers of surface and
nearby airborne traffic. The medium size airports (surrounded by Class
C airspace) generally lack ASDE-X due to cost considerations. All
aircraft entering Class B or C airspace are now required to have ADS-B
Out capability.
There are also approximately 350 airports surrounded by Class D
airspace only, which does not require the ADS-B Out capability. Since
aircraft not equipped with ADS-B capability will continue to operate at
these airports surrounded by Class D airspace, there is a need for a
low-cost, all-weather surveillance capability to provide situational
awareness in times of bad weather and/or low visibility.
The SASS system addresses this need by employing a novel phased-
array antenna, state-of-the-art digital signal processing and
commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware. Unlike ASDE-X, the SASS
system only requires two sensor arrays and a master unit, all of which
are located on the airport grounds. An SASS testbed has been
implemented and operated at Hanscom Field in Massachusetts by MIT
Lincoln Laboratory with FAA funding.
The SASS testbed has been used to demonstrate active (interrogated)
and passive (listen only) surveillance of Mode S and air traffic
control radar beacon system (ATCRBS) transponders. The positional
accuracy goals of 30 feet on the airport surface and 0.2 nautical miles
(NM) out to 20 NM range have been achieved. Based on this demonstrated
performance, the FAA wishes to begin technology transfer of the SASS
design to industry. The SASS Industry Day is the first step in this
process.
Each industry member that is interested in working with the FAA to
engage in the potential further development of SASS after attending the
SASS Industry Day event must provide a Letter of Interest to the FAA
which states the organization's capability to undertake the development
of the technology, past performance/history in developing other
secondary surveillance systems, proposed schedule for developing the
technology and anticipated commercial use for the technology.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is committed to providing
equal access to this meeting for all participants. If you need
alternative formats or services because of a disability, such as sign
language, interpretation, or other ancillary aids, please contact the
person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
Issued in Washington, DC, on December 21, 2020.
Brandon Roberts,
Executive Director, Office of Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2020-28916 Filed 12-30-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
