The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) has entered into a Space Act agreement with the federal space agency NASA to collaborate on planning the next generation of flight in the New York City area.
Urban Air Mobility or UAM, includes the use of drones and electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles to move cargo and passengers. NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., is researching how such vehicles could operate safely in an urban environment using lab and flight experiments. PANYNJ was chosen because of its operational knowledge of constrained airspace.
“For more than a century, the Port Authority has been a leader in applying new ideas in order to make better and more efficient use of resources, brainpower and infrastructure,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole. “We are excited to work with NASA to help push the Urban Air Mobility industry forward.”
PANYNJ had previously partnered with NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration to determine ways of modernizing air traffic control with advanced technology.
