Airspace Link Incorporates Location Intelligence into Drone Offering

Detroit’s Airspace Link, a provider of federal, state, and local government drone flight planning, authorization, and management solutions, has partnered with California’s Esri, a location intelligence company, to integrate a flight planner designed to inform pilots of conditions before drone takeoff.
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Esri's Site Scan for ArcGIS flight planner app
Airspace Link has partnered with Esri to offer Esri’s Site Scan for ArcGIS flight planner, which keeps drone pilots informed of area conditions and regulations. Pictured is the Site Scan app. // Photo courtesy of Apple

Detroit’s Airspace Link, a provider of federal, state, and local government drone flight planning, authorization, and management solutions, has partnered with California’s Esri, a location intelligence company, to integrate a flight planner designed to inform pilots of conditions before drone takeoff.

The integration with Site Scan for ArcGIS flight planner makes it possible for users to have insights into information relevant to the areas of their drone operations such as controlled airspace, special events, and no-fly zones. This provides drone pilots with better situational awareness when planning automated drone flights.

If a flight plan intersects with controlled airspace, users can request to the Federal Aviation Administration within the Site Scan flight planner application by using Airspace’s Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability authorization capability. The collaboration enables the FAA and industry organizations to safely integrate small drones into the U.S. airspace.

“We’ve worked diligently to create authoritative products that make viewing and requesting airspace access simple,” says Michael Healander, CEO and co-founder of Airspace. “The new Site Scan integration that Esri built in partnership with us allows their drone pilot users to receive a broader operational awareness prior to takeoff.”

Airspace is using Esri’s ArcGIS Platform. The information it provides is critical for commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) users to know whether a flight requires a waiver from the FAA or is within a temporary flight restriction area.

“It is key that we provide our users with all the information necessary to fly UAS in the national airspace safely and legally,” says Richard Cooke, director of imagery and remote sensing for Esri. “With this integration, they can now benefit from Site Scan’s best-in-class automated drone flight planning in controlled airspace around the U.S., while taking advantage of Airspace Link’s FAA-sanctioned authorization capabilities.”

The integration is available in the latest update of the Site Scan for ArcGIS Flight Planning App, available for iPads in the Apple App store.

Airspace is an FAA approved unmanned aircraft systems service supplier of the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability. It offers a cloud-based platform, and its low-altitude drone infrastructure is used by communities and airports.

Esri is a global company offering geographic information system software, location intelligence, and mapping. It was founded in 1969 and is used in more than 350,000 organizations globally.