uavs international send letter to nasa

NASA Administrator,

300 E St SW,

Washington DC 20546

Dear Administrator Griffin,

As the world's largest association representing the global unmanned

aircraft systems (UAS) community, UAVS International recognizes that

the safe integration of UASs into global civil managed airspace is one

of the highest priorities for the global aviation community and will

have numerous advantages for mankind. UAVS International, a not-for

profit corporation, has 235 corporate and institutional members in 34

countries (www.uvs-international.org). Unmanned aviation-related

standards, airworthiness certification and air traffic management

issues must be addressed as pivotal building blocks to opening the

airspace frontier. The international UAS community, including the USA,

realizes that this future frontier can only be reached through global

collaboration and coordination.

At the UAV 2005 conference in Paris this past June, Mr Nick Sabatini

from the FAA announced that the USA would join other world aviation

regulator agencies in harmonizing standards on a global basis. Mr

Sabatini cited the NASA Access 5 Program as a major factor in

developing the science, technology and American leadership for this

effort. The current cooperation between UAS stakeholder organizations

in the US and Europe is exemplary and holds great promise for future

economic growth, technological development and societal improvements

that will be beneficial to all.

In this context, we are extremely distressed to hear that NASA is

considering canceling the funding of the Access 5 program. The

leadership and technical contributions of NASA, coupled with the

program's significant accomplishments within a short 19-month period

are exemplary. The value of this program has been recognized not only

by the FAA and numerous American agencies and associations (e.g. DoD,

DHS, DoC, NOAA, JPDO, White House, AOPA, ALPA, RTCA) but also by their

counterparts in many other countries. As a world-class catalyst to

opening aviation's next frontier, Access 5 should not be cancelled but

accelerated. The cancellation of the program, left unchecked, will

have a disastrous effect on the American and international UAS

communities, and its potential contributions to security, disaster

relief, telecommunications, cargo transport and other forms of

commerce, and it would severely hamper the forecasted development of

UASs and their multiple applications on a worldwide scale. This is

exactly the wrong time for the USA and NASA to abdicate such a

leadership role in unmanned aviation. The USA in particular, and the

world in general, stand to lose momentum in this critical aviation

sector at a time when it is needed most. We understand NASA has severe

budget challenges and we can only hope that Access 5 is preserved as a

flagship program of which the American aeronautical community can be

proud and which will have a very positive influence internationally.

Consequently, I kindly request you, in the name of the global unmanned

aviation community, to reconsider canceling funding for the Access 5

program, and to allow it to be completed on schedule. The

international unmanned aircraft systems community stands ready to

continue working with our American counterparts to prepare the future

for unmanned aviation for the common good for all.

Yours sincerely,