Vigilant Aerospace Systems CEO Kraettli L. Epperson will participate in the beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) panel session, “Enabling Routine BVLOS Operations: Regulation, Detect-and-Avoid, and Airspace Integration,” at the UAS Summit & Expo 2026 in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
The 20th annual UAS Summit & Expo will take place Oct. 13-14, 2026, at the Alerus Center. Epperson’s session is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 14, from 11:15 a.m. to noon CDT in the Ballroom. The conference is produced by BBI International and UAS Magazine and is expected to bring together UAS industry leaders, policymakers, government representatives and operational end users.
Ground-Based and Onboard Systems for Integrated Airspace
Epperson will deliver a technical presentation titled “State of the Art in UAS Airspace Integration: Ground-Based and Onboard Systems for Safe Crewed-Uncrewed Operations.”
The presentation will examine the roles of ground-based and onboard technologies in maintaining airspace awareness and supporting safe operations in airspace shared by crewed and uncrewed aircraft. The topic includes the use of detect-and-avoid (DAA) systems, surveillance data, onboard sensors and airspace-management infrastructure to identify potential conflicts and support timely separation decisions.
The broader session will address how regulatory frameworks, operational approvals and technical safety systems must work together to enable routine BVLOS operations. David Cole, co-founder and CEO of FlyFreely, will present “Busting the 400ft Ceiling of Part 108.” Timothy Bleakley, engineering supervisor for UAS civil airspace integration at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, will present “Unlocking Routine BVLOS Operations Through Certified Airborne and Ground Based Detect and Avoid.”
Preparing for Routine BVLOS Operations
The panel comes as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) continues work on proposed Part 108 regulations intended to establish a repeatable framework for routine, scalable, low-altitude BVLOS operations. The proposal addresses DAA, strategic deconfliction, operations in controlled and uncontrolled airspace, aircraft airworthiness acceptance and third-party services such as UAS Traffic Management.
These developments place increased emphasis on integrated safety architectures. Regulatory authorization alone does not provide operators with the surveillance, conflict detection and avoidance capabilities required for routine flight. Similarly, an individual sensor or traffic feed does not provide a complete operational solution without reliable data integration, alerting, procedures and interfaces for flight personnel.
Vigilant Aerospace develops multi-sensor DAA and airspace-management software for uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS). Epperson has participated in more than 45 UAS flight tests and has co-authored technical papers with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Oklahoma State University on autonomous systems and collision avoidance. His work also includes participation in aviation rulemaking and technical standards development for BVLOS operations.
The complete conference schedule is available through the official UAS Summit & Expo 2026 agenda. Registration information is also available from the event organizer.
About the UAS Summit & Expo
The UAS Summit & Expo is an annual conference and exhibition focused on uncrewed aircraft technology, policy, operations and deployment. The event began as a regional gathering in North Dakota and has developed into an international UAS industry conference. The 2026 Summit marks the event’s 20th year and will be held at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks.
Vigilant Aerospace is the leading developer of multi-sensor detect-and-avoid and airspace management software for uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS or drones). The company’s product, FlightHorizon, is based on two NASA patents and uses data from multiple sources to display a real-time picture of the air traffic around a UAS and to provide automatic avoidance maneuvers to prevent collisions. The software is designed to meet industry technical standards, to provide automatic safety and to allow UAS to safely fly beyond the sight of the pilot. The software has won multiple industry awards and the company has had contracts and users at NASA, the FAA, the U.S. Department of Defense and with a variety of drone development programs. Visit our website at www.VigilantAerospace.com