The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and NASA recently entered into a five-year non-reimbursable Space Act agreement to collaborate on initiatives within the Port District’s airspace.
“The port authority has a long history of fostering and promoting innovation and new technology to advance our agency’s mission to keep the region moving, including our most recent initiatives on the use of unmanned aircraft systems for maintenance, testing autonomous vehicle technology to increase capacity, or working with stakeholders to redevelop or replace outmoded facilities,” Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said. “This partnership with NASA will provide huge impetus to our effort to be at the cutting edge of new technology.”
Urban Air Mobility includes the use of drones or electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles to move cargo and passengers. NASA’s Langley Research Center is researching how these vehicles can operate safely in an urban environment. It selected the port authority for its operational knowledge of a constrained airspace.
The partners will investigate electric vertical takeoff craft for multiple uses including sustainable transit to airports for short flights less than 200 miles. The port authority will act as a liaison with airlines and other interested parties and will help select scenarios for more NASA research.