Once-abandoned Searchlight subdivision may soon be buzzing with drones

The once-abandoned subdivision off the side of U.S. Highway 95 is tucked out of view, but there isn’t much to see anyway — just some house-less streets next to a mile-long airstrip.

But in time, if Jonathan Daniels has his way, the property will be buzzing with drones.

Daniels, founder of Henderson-based Praxis Aerospace Concepts International, recently leased about an acre of land at the Searchlight Airpark for his drone-testing business.

He plans to start working from temporary trailers — the site has water and power hook-ups — by mid-May and eventually build a permanent facility. As part of his agreement with the property owner, Daniels also will manage the tower-less airport.

Original and full article from the Las Vegas Review Journal is available here.

PACI Contracted with NSTec for UTM and CUAS Technology Advancements

Praxis Aerospace Concepts International (PACI) has expanded their services from commercial to federal and signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Nevada National Security Site’s (NNSS) management and operating contractor, National Security Technologies (NSTec). With this CRADA, PACI has added a new division within that can handle federal accounts and services. With over four successful years of developing commercial endeavours, the team welcomes many opportunities with this expansion to the federal level.

In the past, PACI has made several notable contributions to the commercial world of aerospace, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and other robotics. Utilisation of this CRADA will allow PACI and the NNSS to collaborate on projects involving the development, operations, and integration of virtual hardware and software technology with unmanned aerial and ground systems. With the extensive knowledge, experience, and innovation found at PACI, the benefits will be mutually rewarding for all those involved. Focus will be on
advancing the processes and procedures, techniques, and infrastructure for near and far-reaching technologies. This will also include counter measures involving UAS, Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS), Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM), and Command and Control (C2) of Robotics.

The original and full article on sUASNews can be found here.

City of Henderson: City of the Future

Praxis Aerospace Concepts International, Inc., located in Henderson because of the wide variety of office and warehouse locations available, and because it was separate geographically from both the Las Vegas Strip and the defense-focused areas in North Las Vegas, according to Jonathan Daniels, CEO.

Praxis works with ground-air-sea-industrial response robotics and unmanned systems in both civil/commercial and defense use. Daniels finds Southern Nevada a good fit because of the community.

“We have an extensive internship and apprentice program that has welcomed students from UNLV and [Clark County School District] schools. Several of our partner companies are also based in Henderson, so our location works well for face-to-face meetings and project collaborations,” said Daniels.

You can read the full article from Nevada Business Magazine here

Praxis Aerospace Concepts achieve Milestone at the NY UAS Test Site

Praxis Aerospace Concepts International, Inc. today announced that it has been delegated Mission Command authority from the New York UAS Test Site, operated by the Griffiss International Airport. This significant achievement represents the growth of the partnership between the two entities, and the advances the integrate of unmanned aircraft into the airspace over the Southwestern United States. With Mission Command authority, PACI has unlimited access to two new authorizations from the FAA.

Original and full article from sUASNews is available here

Teaming with Griffiss International Airport

Praxis Aerospace Concepts International Inc. (PACI) has been delegated mission command authority from the New York unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) test site, operated by Griffiss International Airport in Rome, N.Y.

PACI can support operations in Class G airspace anywhere in the United States that meets the criteria of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved nationwide blanket Certificate of Authority (COA).

Read the press release from Unmanned Aerial Online here

PACI’s CEO testifies to the House Small Business Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations about Commercial UAS

Today, PACI’s Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Daniels testified to the House Small Business Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations on “Opportunity Rising: the FAA’s New Regulatory Framework for Commercial Drone Operations.”

Small business owners told a key Congressional subcommittee today that new federal regulation that allows commercial use of small unmanned aircraft systems, otherwise known as drones or UAS, are opening up the skies and opportunities for new jobs and economic growth. However, effective and efficient implementation of the rule and the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) next steps to fully and safely integrate UAS into the national airspace system are critical to the industry’s success. The FAA projects that 90 percent of drone owners will be small businesses making clear and sensible regulation essential as these entrepreneurs try to get startups off the ground and improve existing small businesses day-to-day operations through the use of this technology.

Watch the full video here (Mr. Daniels’ testimony starts at 28:53)

For more information from Representative Hardy (NV-R), read this press release here.

House Subcommittee Holding Hearing on Commercial Drone Ops

Next Tuesday, the U.S. House’s Small Business Committee is holding a hearing entitled “Opportunity Rising: the FAA’s New Regulatory Framework for Commercial Drone Operations.”

Taking place at 11:00 a.m. at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., the hearing will include the following witnesses: Gabriel Dobbs, vice president of business development and policy at Kespry Inc. (testifying on behalf of the Small UAV Coalition); Brian Wynne, president and CEO of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International; and Jonathan Daniels, president of Praxis Aerospace Concepts International Inc.

The original and full article from Unmanned Aerial Online can be found here.

Clark County Fire Department Receives FAA Blanket Authorization for Public Safety Drone Flights

The Clark County Fire Department has received permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate a small “unmanned aircraft systems”– commonly referred to as a drone. This is the first Certificate of Authorization approved in Nevada under the FAA’s new “Public Safety Blanket COA” process.

Under the leadership of Chief Gregory Cassell, CCFD initiated this application as part of a visionary program to use UAS to address specific challenges of fire service response. This is the first UAS COA for CCFD, and is supported by Praxis Aerospace Concepts International as the COA-designated Point of Contact.

CCFD’s innovative approach integrates small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS) support into firefighting missions such as hazardous materials spill response, public safety, life preservation missions, gathering photographic and video images over disaster scenes and fire areas, and training missions. Initial operations will focus on training firefighter flight crews and validating procedures for the department.

Praxis Aerospace Concepts International, Inc. is best known in the unmanned systems industry for its White Label services, supporting FAA UAS Test Sites, Universities and corporate partners with Robotics Management, Technical Services and Autonomous Technology Testing. PACI is a partner of ASSURE, the FAA’s UAS Center of Excellence. “UAS integration into emergency response operations will save time, resources and money while keeping firefighters safer than ever before,” said Jonathan Daniels, CEO, Praxis Aerospace Concepts International, Inc. “Chief Cassell and his staff at CCFD have been a fantastic proponent during the development of this program over the last year”.

Watch local news coverage “Clark County Fire Department receives drone license from FAA” with additional information here

Nevada Company Teams With the NY UAS Test Site to Conduct Potential NASA Research at World’s First Droneport

HENDERSON, NV –(Marketwired – April 04, 2016) – Praxis Aerospace Concepts International, Inc. today announced it has entered into a partnership with the New York UAS Test Site, Griffiss International Airport, to provide the Test Site additional expertise as they accomplish requirements toward their support of NASA. The goal of which is to help integrate unmanned air vehicles into the world around us. 

NASA has invited test sites to participate in NASA activities, as well as to encourage teaming across test sites to gain cost efficiencies and maximize research data that will be delivered to NASA. The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration in the National Airspace System project, or UAS in the NAS, will contribute capabilities designed to reduce technical barriers related to safety and operational challenges associated with enabling routine UAS access to the NAS. Subsequently, Oneida County has been awarded a 5 year Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract for future NASA task orders. These Task Orders may require Praxis participation and expertise toward their accomplishment.

Praxis Aerospace Concepts International, Inc. is best known in the unmanned systems industry for its White Label services, supporting FAA UAS Test Sites, Universities and corporate partners with Robotics Management, Technical Services and Autonomous Technology Testing. PACI is a partner of ASSURE, the FAA’s UAS Center of Excellence. “We are very excited to work with Oneida County and Griffiss International Airport,” said Jonathan Daniels, CEO, Praxis Aerospace Concepts International, Inc. “Teaming up with the New York UAS Test Site to engage in NASA’s UAS in the NAS research is an exciting development for our company.”

“Praxis Aerospace Concepts International, Inc. is a great partner and this partnership reflects our desire to collaborate with companies such as Praxis that have the excellent reputation and expertise within the UAS community and share our commitment to the growth of the UAS industry locally, at the Nevada Drone Port and nationally,” said Anthony J. Picente, Jr., Oneida County Executive and Operator of the New York UAS Test Site, Griffiss International Airport. The New York UAS Test Site at Griffiss International Airport is known for successfully testing UAS from small category to a full scale fixed wing aircraft and it’s state of the art range instrumentation system that combines the SRC LSTAR 3-d Radar and the Saab Sensis WAM sensors as well as the soon to be added X-Band Surface Movement Radar. 

About Praxis Aerospace Concepts International, Inc.

Founded in 2011, PACI is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business based in Southern Nevada. The company’s mission is to develop practical solutions for multi-modal (ground-air-sea-industrial) robotics and unmanned systems (UxS) using a mix of proprietary technology, unique team domain expertise, and unique partnerships, PACI can develop and operate laboratory and field facilities for autonomous systems research, development, test, evaluation, deployment, commercialization, and training. Praxis Aerospace Concepts International, Inc. currently serves over 20 clients with military, public and civil robotics/unmanned systems across the globe. For more information about Praxis Aerospace Concepts International, Inc., visit its website at www.praxisaerospace.com.

About New York UAS Test Site, Griffiss International Airport

The NY FAA Designated UAS Test Site at Griffiss International Airport is operated by Oneida County through its Department of Aviation. It is one of six Test Sites nationwide designated by the FAA. 

Additionally, clients have access to a system of data collection provided by range instrumentation that will consist of LSTAR, surface movement radar and WAM sensors. The data collected is provided to the client as well as safety data that is provided to the FAA. For more information about the NY UAS Test Site and Griffiss International Airport, please visit the website at http://ocgov.net

Read the full article on Yahoo Finance here

Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Cultivating a New Industry in Nevada

Seeking to benefit from the anticipated, widespread commercial use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) nationwide, Nevadans have been working diligently to cultivate an industry around this type of aircraft.

Nevada is one of six states designated as FAA UAS test sites, or places for research and development and creation of technological strategies for integrating UAS into the NAS. The Silver State has nearly 40 centers where testing can occur. They include the four originals—Reno Stead Airport, Fallon Municipal Airport, Boulder City Municipal Airport and the Desert Rock Airstrip.

PACI is a Partner of the State of Nevada Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site

“Even if we only see 10 percent or are only able to capture 10 percent of that market, that’s $9 billion,” said Tom Wilczek, the defense and aerospace industry representative at the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED). “We absolutely see a value added in terms of developing a cluster in Nevada specific to UAV development. It’s a new chapter in Nevada.”

Read the full article from Nevada Business Magazine at this link here

Verified by MonsterInsights