NASA Wants A Drone Detector At Kennedy House Heart

NASA is looking for proposals for a brand new system to assist spot and determine drones that could be flying over the Kennedy House Heart (KSC) in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The house company just lately put out a call for proposals for Unmanned Plane System (UAS) detection and evaluation providers, which NASA is hoping to place into motion by April 2026. The aim of the system shall be “to make fast and significant choices to guard NASA personnel, the general public, launch automobiles, flight {hardware}, crucial excessive worth belongings, and safety pursuits,” in accordance with the contract itemizing. It can have each mounted and cellular sensors.

The transfer comes shortly after the U.S. Federal Communications Fee (FCC) introduced it was banning new foreign-made drones and drone elements, citing nationwide safety issues.

Eyes on the skies

Kennedy House Heart is NASA’s major launch web site, together with for the House Launch System rocket that can carry the Artemis missions to the Moon, and homes amenities for analysis and industrial house ventures.

“All UAS flights over KSC property, whether or not inside or outdoors the safety perimeter, are restricted and solely happen with the approval of KSC Flight Operations,” NASA wrote in its proposal. It’s not clear whether or not the company has confronted latest threats from drones, or if this can be a precautionary transfer to guard its launch belongings. It’s additionally not clear what sort of drone detection programs are in use on the neighboring Cape Canaveral House Pressure Station, house to categorized navy actions.

The drone detection system would detect and determine unknown UAS inside a distance of a minimum of 46 miles (64 kilometers), present risk analyses, real-time detection and alerting capabilities, in accordance with the decision for proposal.

The latest ban on foreign-made drones stems from a protection invoice that handed final yr, which referred to as for a evaluation of the nationwide safety dangers posed by the flying automobiles. In late 2024, there was a surge of stories of drones seen flying over New Jersey, however most consultants say folks have been simply confused by conventional plane.

We will report a minimum of one related siting: KSC’s Customer Heart is reportedly working a vacation drone present that includes 600 autonomous plane.