NASA Ames Meeting to Shape Framework for Routine Autonomous Multi-Aircraft Operations

The NASA-sponsored Routine Autonomous Multi-Aircraft Operations (RAM-AO) Working Group seeks new subgroup members to help develop UAS operations.

Published on Feb. 24, 2026

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The NASA-sponsored Routine Autonomous Multi-Aircraft Operations Working Group is advancing efforts to enable routine, autonomous, multi-aircraft operations in the national airspace by identifying and addressing technical, operational, and regulatory barriers to scale. The group brings together stakeholders from government, industry, and academia to determine how multiple human operators can safely oversee multiple autonomous aircraft in shared airspace environments.

Why it matters

Uncrewed aircraft systems are evolving as a transformational technology with applications ranging from urban air taxis and cargo delivery to disaster response, firefighting, and military logistics. To realize that potential and support expected fleet growth, operators must be able to scale safely from one-to-one control models to supervisory control of multiple aircraft.

The details

The Interventions and Exceptions subgroup is developing modeling and simulation methods to validate the safety of m:N operations by quantifying when human operators must intervene. The Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems subgroup is identifying regulatory gaps in autonomous multi-aircraft operations, particularly related to beyond visual line of sight flight. The Scalable Remote Crew Design Considerations subgroup is focused on best practices for task allocation, role definition, and handoffs among remote crew members in multi-aircraft operations. The m:N Validation and Verification subgroup is developing an evaluation framework and associated metrics for workload, system performance, and safety to support scalable operational approval. The System of Systems Design subgroup is defining baseline considerations for robust management of multi-aircraft operations in fully integrated, non-segregated airspace environments.

  • The Working Group's biannual meeting was held in July at NASA Langley Research Center.
  • The upcoming meeting will be held 3-5 March at the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California.

The players

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

The U.S. government agency responsible for the civilian space program, aeronautics and space research.

Aptima Inc.

A company in Woburn, Massachusetts that is applying its expertise in human-autonomy teaming to support the RAM-AO initiative under a NASA award.

U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Center

A military organization that highlighted challenges in managing multiple systems under contested conditions, including jamming and operational disruptions.

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What’s next

The Working Group ultimately seeks to produce technical insights and operational data to inform the evolution of future standards and regulatory frameworks supporting routine, autonomous, multi-aircraft operations across civil and defense domains.

The takeaway

The NASA-sponsored Routine Autonomous Multi-Aircraft Operations Working Group is bringing together key stakeholders to address the technical, operational, and regulatory barriers to scaling uncrewed aircraft systems and enabling the safe supervisory control of multiple autonomous aircraft in shared airspace environments.