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President Obama recently signed into law the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (H.R. 658), which is a bill that speeds up efforts to switch from radar to an air traffic control system based on GPS technology. This new system is called the Next Generation Air Transportation System and will be implemented by 2015. In addition, H.R. 658 will also open U.S skies to unmanned drone flights in less than four years. As Point of Beginning (POB) pointed out this week, this move will create more opportunities for GEOINT professionals.

According to the article, the bill authorizes $63.4 billion for the FAA. $11 billion of this will go towards modernizing the air traffic system. With a deadline of June 2015, 35 of the busiest airports in our nation will have new arrival procedures that utilize more advanced, precise GPS navigation.

The FAA will also be required to provide military, commercial and privately-owned drones with expanded access to U.S. airspace by Sept. 30, 2015. And, as Jeff Lovin, Woolpert senior vice president and director of geospatial services, told POB this will be good for geospatial professionals: “The passage of this bill is encouraging for geospatial professionals since we now have an end goal. With a timeline now identified for the expansion of unmanned aerial systems into public airspace, the geospatial community has a lot of work to do.”

Be sure to check out the full POB article here.

Tags: FAA and Drones, FAA and GPS, FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, GEOINT, GEOINT and FAA, GPS and FAA, Next Generation Air Transportation System, USGIF