Website launched for Oregon’s UAS test ranges
The website for Oregon’s test-flight ranges for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS, also called commercial drones) is up and running.
The site – at http://uastestranges.soaroregon.com — provides comprehensive information on the state’s three test ranges at Pendleton, Tillamook, and Warm Springs, where UAS can be flown in a safe, well-supported test environment.
The website provides a high-level overview of the three test ranges, their locations and capabilities, and a drill-down on the technical capabilities of each, including relevant factors such as airport details, infrastructure, visuals of the surrounding airspace (e.g., airways and jetways), other operational-related information, and local amenities. The site includes contact information for each range manager.
A key partner with Alaska and Hawaii in the greater Pan-Pacific UAS Test Range Complex, Oregon offers developers of UAS systems and applications an unmatched opportunity to fly the most diverse geography in the U.S. Spanning the high seas to the high desert, Oregon’s test sites cover forested valleys, rich farmland, large dry-land agricultural sites, rivers, lakes, ocean beaches, bays and fishing grounds, and a 10,000-foot mountain peak.
Each test range has unique geographic and program support features, and projects across the three sites can be integrated. Oregon ranges, which have carried out UAS flights under earlier FAA rules as well as flights under the procedures of the new Pan-Pacific test site, offer both high- and low-altitude testing.
The website, which will be steadily improved over time, is operated by SoarOregon, a state-funded initiative through the Oregon Business Development Dept. and the Oregon Innovation Council to grow the state’s unmanned aerial industry and make Oregon a national leader in this new technology area.
