Grand Sky celebrated its one-year anniversary on Feb. 18, 2016, by marking yet another milestone. The first multi-drone flight was conducted at the park by Grand Forks, N.D.-based startup SkySkopes conducted the first multi-drone flight at the park, paving the way for procedures to be created that will allow future tenants to conduct simultaneous flights of multiple small unmanned aircraft. The test flight offered crew members the opportunity to gauge distance requirements and experiment with communication directives, among other procedural uncertainties. A video of the flight can be seen here.
Indeed, the first year of operations at Grand Sky has been memorable and company officials expect the coming year to be just as busy, if not more so. Swoyer recently recapped the park’s many accomplishments achieved in the 12 months following the enhanced use lease signing between the U.S. Air Force, Grand Forks County and Grand Sky. Two tenant leases have been signed, Northrop Grumman and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems both celebrated groundbreakings in fall 2015, 40 small UAS flights have been conducted, and infrastructure work is nearing completion. The project is currently ahead of schedule, and park officials anticipate announcing three additional tenants in 2016. Read the full story here.
Large unmanned aircraft could begin flying at Grand Sky as early as April, following the completion of a temporary hangar for General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. The company is expected to use its space at Grand Sky to train unmanned aircraft flight crews from around the world. For more details, read this article.
Additional coverage of Grand Sky’s historic first year of operations can be found at the following sources:
Grand Sky Marks First Anniversary
Grand Forks, ND Aviation Business Park Gearing Up for More Construction
