Colorado is vying to be one of six states designated as a test site for flying commercial drones over U.S. airspace.
Efforts to integrate unmanned aircraft into federal airspace received a major boost on Feb. 14 when the Federal Aviation Administration released a state application process for attaining a test-site designation.
A group of more than 30 stakeholder entities from around Colorado believe the state — with its robust aerospace industry, established research institutions and major military presence — has the talent to succeed in attaining one of the six test-site designations that the FAA will allocate by the end of this year.
If they are successful, it could mean thousands of jobs and a lot of
This miniature unmanned aerial vehicle at the University of Denver is part of a doctoral project that focuses on radar-based collision avoidance. money pouring into the state.
A study by the Teal Group in April 2012 estimates that the commercial drone market will nearly double in the next 10 years, going from $6.6 billion to $11.4 billion in global expenditures. A study commissioned by AUVSI, the industry association for unmanned systems, predicts upward of 70,000 new jobs created in the first three years of integration. By 2025, AUVSI expects to see more than 100,000 jobs created.
The word "drone" conjures up an image of Predator drones and targeted killings so most businesses and organizations involved in the initiative prefer to call the technology unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). They point to practical commercial uses like wildfire monitoring, pipeline safety and search and rescue.
"The effect on the market will be dramatic as long as people step back and take a deep breath," said Allen Bishop, founder and chairman of Reference Technologies in Lafayette, a producer of unmanned systems for both government and commercial use.
The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2012, which Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed into law last year, mandated the air safety agency develop and implement a process for integrating commercial drones into the national airspace by 2015.
The release of the application process has launched a mad dash of organizational decision-making, pulling at least 30 states into a steep competition, all navigating uncharted territory.
"Things are still chaotic because it is a tight timeline they've set," said Vicky Lea, aviation industry manager at Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.
The FAA requires that the lead applicant from any state be a public entity with at least five years research experience. The University of Colorado at Boulder will serve as the lead on Colorado's effort, but it will be the whole team collaborating to meet the FAA's phase I deadline by Wednesday. Colorado is looking at a distributed model where "the test site" is actually at multiple locations throughout the state.
Bishop, also the vice president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of AUVSI, believes the applications of drones are endless. For instance, he says a $500 UAV could be deployed to search a large area for a missing child and gather data before a human search team could even be formed.
Small, lightweight drones are already in production at multiple locations in Colorado. The University of Denver even has a research institute dedicated solely to developing unmanned systems.
Kimon Valavanis, the lab's director, has been working on robotics for the last 30 years. Valavanis' research focuses on smaller UAVs for commercial applications, such as agriculture, wildlife and environmental monitoring, fire mitigation, and search-and-rescue missions.
"The sky is the limit," Valavanis said. "(But) there are a lot of challenges and, of course, a lot of controversy."
The most widely discussed concern is privacy.
"Once you have a cellphone, your privacy is gone," Valavanis said.
"But perception is stronger than reality. It's a new technology and people are just not used to it."
Such concerns aren't typically in the FAA's bailiwick.
The agency has included a separate document in its application requirements that relates specifically with the privacy issue raised through a public response process.
"It behooves our legislators to put their politics aside to find the balance between those who want to go slow and industry that wants to kick it all off tomorrow," Bishop said. "Somewhere in the middle is the sweet spot where we can do it safely and reasonably quickly."
In addition to battling the issue of perception, the Colorado UAS Team is in a fierce fight against other states aiming to be on the front end of the industry's boom. The team believes it has several advantages, including an advanced aerospace industry, diverse geography and climates for testing of the systems and strong state government support.
"We think it's a great opportunity for Colorado and we think we are the best state for them to choose," said Ken Lund, executive director of Colorado's office of economic development. "Our governor has put together, I think, a very strong strategy around space and aerospace. I think we are more aligned to execute our business plan than really any other state in the country."
In terms of meeting the requirements, Colorado has everything except an ocean and large funding sources.
Barry Gore, president of Adams County Economic Development, the hosting agency for Spaceport Colorado and Aeronautical Authority, is a major player in pulling together the state's stakeholder. He is optimistic, but recognizes the obstacles.
"There are other states that are putting millions of dollars behind their initiatives," Gore said. "In Colorado, we have the governor's support but there's no funding, no office, no tangible support. It would definitely help us competitively to have that sort of support."
Nonetheless, the Colorado UAS Team has a strong relationship with Gov. John Hickenlooper and the state's office of economic development.
"We think our role is to convene the right players, align the right resources ... and we think on those lines, we are very competitive," Lund said. "We think modest monetary support with strong state support is really the best way to execute."
The application process is still in its earliest phase, but how the money shakes out — among other aspects — will be seen in the coming months with May 6 as the final phase's deadline.
"The state of Colorado can't win one of these without having some skin in the game. Businesses like mine are willing to put a stake in this program," Bishop said. "If we don't do this and we don't do this right ... we will find these things being manufactured elsewhere."
Kristen Leigh Painter: 303-954-1638, kpainter@denverpost.com or twitter.com/kristenpainter
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