The U.S. Senate has approved an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill that would extend the authorization of every unmanned aircraft systems test site for an additional five years. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., introduced the amendment. Once approved, the reauthorization bill including the test site authorization amendment, would extend the presence of each test site for another five years after the test sites authorization period expires on September 30, 2017. “The test sites have already made remarkable gains, such as nighttime operations, flying multiple aircraft in the same airspace and researching and testing aircraft up to 1,200 feet,” Hoeven said. “Nevertheless, there’s much left to do, and that will require investment and support from industry partners. Those partners will be much more likely to use the FAA test sites if they can be sure those sites will be operational beyond the end of Fiscal Year 2017.”
