Indiana site confirmed for UAS contest

Camp Atterbury in Indiana will host the upcoming NASA UAS competition, the Ohio/Indiana UAS Center & Test complex confirmed Tuesday.

As announced in May, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Airspace Operations Challenge in spring 2014 will take place at the center’s Camp Atterbury site in Indiana.

The challenge is a competition to develop “sense and avoid” technology to help integrate unmanned aircraft into the national airspace with an initial prize purse of $500,000, the center said in a release.

The Dayton Development Coalition, the complex, the National Center for Complex Operations, Indiana State University and other regional companies have worked with NASA to develop rules for the phase I competition, the complex said. NASA recently approved these rules following a public review.

“Camp Atterbury offers ideal airspace and excellent support facilities for this competition,” Dick Honneywell, executive director for the complex, said in the release. “We have seen significant interest from academia and industry in this challenge event and intend to use this opportunity to familiarize them with our airspace capabilities and the business-friendly test and evaluation environment provided by the test ranges sponsored by the UAS Center.”

The competition will be April 28 to May 2, 2014.

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