UK partners with NASA to build drone tracking system

With more aerial drones now hovering over the United Kingdom, the British government is working with the biggest name in the aerospace to develop a tracking system that will significantly decrease the number of drone-related accidents. The proposed system will track and trace drones that fly lower than 150 metres, regardless of whether they’re operated by hobbyists or commercial pilots.

"The Government are in early discussions with National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, about the drone traffic management system," Undersecretary of State for Transport Lord Ahmad Tariq told Ars Technica. The House of Lords confirmed the partnership in one of the government’s publications.

Previously, Amazon, Google, Harris Corporation, Verizon Communications and other big U.S. companies have teamed up with NASA for air-traffic control. NASA has worked with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Verizon Communications’ cell towers. It also let Google test its “Project Wing” in private U.S. lands under NASA’s jurisdiction, The Guardian reports.

The UK government is taking the same path to prevent mid-air collisions and other potential dangers unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, technology brings. One of the big issues besetting aerial drones is privacy. Viscount Astor, the stepfather of Prime Minister David Cameron’s wife, Samantha Cameron, referred to the drone as a complicated legal minefield.

NASA is considering using radars, mobile signals and satellites in the traffic management system. The proposed system will rely on cloud-based services for weather, traffic information and restricted zone alerts. Whether or not the drone traffic monitoring system will be run privately or publicly hasn’t been addressed, however.

The government and NASA intends to have a prototype by 2019. The government, however, does have the capability of making the tests before 2019, Engadget reports.