MUASC continues to reach out to a variety of national and international companies to explain why Michigan is their best choice to test platforms of any size and flights at any altitude. 

Our first commercial flight was conducted in July 2016. MUASC had three individuals certified as FAA mission commanders by NUAIR.

The consortium has a special blanket COA for the Class D airspace at Alpena County Airport. The blanket COA allows the flight testing of UAS platforms by modifying the current COA instead of going through a tailored COA application. Class D airspace is a section of airspace four miles in radius of the airport and up to approximately 2,500 feet AGL. 

MUASC is collaborating with Willow Run Airport to offer the same services in their Class D airspace (2,300 feet AGL). The services would attract UAS centric businesses to the Willow Run airport and directly support the linkage between the UAS and the autonomous ground vehicle development taking place adjacent to the airport. A Willow Run Class D COA is an important asset to the various universities located close to the airport including Eastern Michigan University, University of Michigan and MTU Research Institute.

MUASC is partnering with Alpena Community College in developing a UAS training park to support UAS educational and commercial platform development. The park will be located on an undeveloped college property and contain features important to flight operation of rotary and fixed wing UAS platforms. The location will contain a variety of features useful for training of operators in a variety of industries including construction and utilities.