FAA Grants COA to Mississippi University to Fly Stark Heron
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a Certificate of Authorization (COA) to Mississippi State University for Stark Aerospace to fly the Heron UAS from Golden Triangle Regional Airport (GTRA) in Columbus, Mississippi .
Mississippi State University (MSU) is the public sponsor of the COA which specifically allows for the flight of the Stark Aerospace Heron in National Air Space inside the traffic control area of GTRA. "This is a significant step as we continue to establish the Golden Triangle as a leader in the aerospace industry," said Mike Hainsey, Executive Director of GTRA. GTRA is unique among commercial service airports, as a very limited number have a COA for UAS operations.
Dr. Robert Moorhead, Director of MSU's Geosystems Research Institute and the university's lead on this COA project, said, "The COA effort between Mississippi State University and Stark Aerospace facilitates the flight of unmanned systems in the Golden Triangle, further strengthening the university's aerospace engineering programme and our efforts toward regional excellence in unmanned aircraft systems."
The UAS Production Division of Stark Aerospace originated at MSU's Raspet Flight Lab, and Stark has utilized the MSU Bagley School of Engineering for training. "This is another step in the growth pattern of Stark that will enhance the future aerospace opportunities for not only our company but for the Golden Triangle Region and the State of Mississippi," said David Eudy, president and CEO of Stark Aerospace.
The Heron's proven safety record and robust redundancy in the aircraft's systems, as well as fully autonomous takeoff and landing in up to 25 knot crosswinds were factors that contributed to the award of the COA. The Heron Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAS is produced at Stark Aerospace. The Stark Flight Operations Team has flown the Heron in support of the U.S. government and has experience flying the aircraft in commercial airspace outside of the U.S.With a 550-pound simultaneous multi-sensor payload ability, 30,000-foot altitude, and more than 30 hours endurance, the Heron UAS has superior reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities and is in use in 27 countries. Established in 2006, Stark Aerospace is an aerospace company located in the Golden Triangle. In addition to the production and flight of the Heron UAS, the company is producing the Hunter MQ-5B for the U.S. Army. The Hunter has flown over 100,000 of hours in Afghanistan and Iraq in support of the Global War on Terror. Stark also has an Engineering Division and an Electro-Optics division that assembles and repairs Plug-In Optronic Payload (POP) systems.Source: WCBI.COM
