In 2025, Part 108 and flights beyond visual line of sight are among the key talking points for the drone industry. Over at Grand Sky in North Dakota, they are happening.

Grand Sky, which is located on the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota, claims the title of the country’s first commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) park. And this year marks a decade since its founding.

Grand Sky has played a pivotal role in the drone industry for a few reasons, but one of the key reasons could have huge impacts for the year ahead.

“I would consider Grand Sky’s most pivotal achievement over the past 10 years to be the development and acceptance of our ground-based sense and avoid system (GBSAA) that allows BVLOS operations from Grand Sky,” said Thomas Swoyer,  founder and president of Grand Sky in an interview with The Drone Girl. “We all know that BVLOS operations will be a single catalyst that will set the UAS industry loose. Grand Sky has been operating a GBSAA for BVLOS operations since 2018, and it’s the single asset that totally differentiates us from other sites.”

A history of Grand Sky

Grand Sky’s success traces back to 2015, when it entered into a landmark Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) with the U.S. Air Force and Grand Forks County — the deal that made the whole project possible.

“The Air Force was suspicious that this development would work and wanted the County in the middle because they were worried we would go bankrupt in the process of developing Grand Sky,” Swoyer said. “If Grand Forks County didn’t share our vision for what Grand Sky could be, none of this would happen.”

Swoyer went on to say that it’s the Joint Use Agreement (JUA) — a separate agreement struck with the Air Force — that truly unlocked the skies. “The JUA allows us to fly crewed and uncrewed aircraft using the Air Force Base runway and tower support. That’s the game changer,” he said. “It also gives us access to the raw radar feed from the base, which we use as the core sensor for our GBSAA.”

With that infrastructure in place, major players followed. Northrop Grumman signed on as Grand Sky’s first commercial tenant, followed by General Atomics. NASA, AFRL, and the Department of Defense soon joined the fold. Over the last decade, Grand Sky has catalyzed more than $169 million in private sector investment, generated $2.6 million annually in state and local taxes and created 269 full-time jobs with an average salary of $118,000.

What’s next? Project Ultra

What’s next for Grand Sky? All eyes are on Project ULTRA, an initiative to revolutionize air traffic management by tackling real-world problems like drone cargo delivery — without relying on temporary flight restrictions or restricted airspace.

“Our first real-world scenario is logistics … cargo … operations,” Swoyer said. “We’re demonstrating how we can use a Group 3 UAS to carry cargo from Grand Sky to Cavalier Space Force Station, a 50-55 mile one-way trip. Success for us is the ability to do that round trip 10 times, safely and repeatedly.”

Replicability is key, he said.

“It’s not enough to do something once, we need to do it over and over, safely and efficiently.”

Swoyer also pointed to a new capability called ASIS. It’s short for Airspace Systems Integration Services, and it will allow multiple traffic management systems to interconnect regardless of who makes them.

“That way, an AAM company using system X for traffic management can safely integrate with another AAM provider or the military using system Y,” he said. “We see a future where there are hundreds of UAS in the air simultaneously, with multiple operators overseeing dozens of drones by themselves. We need to know what each of those drones are doing or intend to do and why.”

Public-private partnerships across the state

Swoyer says his state’s success is part of a larger effort including a highly coordinated web of public-private partnerships.

“Our most critical partnership is with the Northern Plains UAS Test Site to help with the airworthiness, BVLOS, etc,” he said. “They bring their considerable regulatory experience and make it look easy.”

He also said the state’s business-friendly policies and aligned support from Grand Forks County to the governor’s office have laid the groundwork for UAS success.

“If you need flight operations support from pilots to waivers, we have you covered. If you need opportunities with major defense contractors, they are here. If you need help with your startup, come to The Hive,” Swoyer said, referencing the local business incubator. “We have so many great organizations that can deliver real value to any UAS operation.”

Long flights, longer vision: what’s next for Grand Sky

In 2018, a Grand Sky-facilitated drone flew across the Atlantic, showing what’s possible in long-endurance flight. Today, long-distance ops are routine.

“Our customers with Northrop and General Atomics conduct most of those flights based on their customer needs,” said Swoyer. “With new DoD customers like TRMC’s SkyRange, they will be flying MQ-9 and RQ-4 aircraft around the world from Grand Sky.”

The park is now building a prototype operations center to support 24/7 missions — and preparing for a future that includes gym access, food service and potentially on-site lodging.

“Even in civilian endurance flights, there is a company that believes their aircraft can support 90+ hour flights,” he said. “That sounds awesome, but it means a team on site for 90 hours. They need to eat, sleep, etc. Long-endurance flights will change the face of Grand Sky.”

As Grand Sky looks to the next 10 years, Swoyer sees opportunities in commercial ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), logistics for remote campuses, and replicating the Grand Sky model across other U.S. communities.

“We don’t want to own all the solutions or all the employees at Grand Sky,” he said. “We think more companies win if we create opportunities where everyone is successful.”

Want to keep insights like this on the drone industry coming? Consider making a recurring donation to The Drone Girl! Use the button below or go through my PayPal to donate. Thank you!

The post 10 years of Grand Sky: inside the drone park that put North Dakota on the UAS map appeared first on The Drone Girl.