FutureFlight
NASA Outlines Its National Campaign with Test Flights to Start in April
Joby Aviation and Wisk are among the vehicle partners supporting the U.S. agency's Advanced Air Mobility program
Elroy Air Chaparral
On January 29, Elroy Air became the latest eVTOL aircraft developer to join NASA's National Campaign to evaluate how advanced air mobility vehicles can be safely integrated into public airspace. (Photo: Elroy Air)

During an industry update session at the Vertical Flight Society’s Electric VTOL Symposium last week, record numbers of attendees were briefed on NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) National Campaign, which is an effort by the U.S. agency to promote public confidence and aid in the development of emerging aviation markets. Starr Ginn, national campaign lead for NASA, outlined the program’s goals and progress in the 18 months it has been running.

The program focuses mainly on creating what Ginn described as a “system of systems” that will enable the safe operation of AAM vehicles in the airspace as well as the integration of AAM within the operational and regulatory environments. For example, she explained that greater reliability on command and control of all vehicles in the airspace, not just unmanned ones, will be required.