The Drones are Coming!

The FAA has announced six sites for advanced unmanned aerial vehicle testing. The accepted proposals come from various universities, state governments and airports. “The FAA considered geography, climate, location of ground infrastructure, research needs, airspace use, safety, aviation experience and risk,” the agency said in a release.

Popular Mechanics reports, “Many locations were vying for a test site, seeing it as an immediate jobs generator and a foothold into the growing field of drones. Congress in 2012 ordered the FAA to open the National Airspace System (NAS) to unmanned aircraft. The law sets a deadline of 2015 for the FAA to create regulations and technical requirements that will integrate drones into the NAS. The test sites are part of that effort.”

The winners are the University of Alaska, the state of Nevada, New York’s Griffiss International Airport, the North Dakota Chamber of Commerce, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, and Virginia Tech.

The drones are coming. Here’s Popular Mechanic’s writeup on what that future will look like.

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