Northern Plains UAS Test Site

The Northern Plains UAS Test Site (NPUASTS) in Grand Forks, North Dakota, is one of nine Federal Aviation Administration designated unmanned aircraft system test sites in the United States. Founded in 2013, it describes itself as North Dakota's drone access, infrastructure and operations authority and a turnkey operational headquarters for drones, providing access to airspace, regulatory flight waivers, flight testing, consultation and UAS research. Its mission is to work with the FAA and industry partners to develop the systems, rules and procedures that integrate unmanned aircraft into the national airspace, and it also works with the Departments of War and Homeland Security on counter-UAS testing and access to defence facilities. Executive director Trevor Woods sits on the FAA's Drone Safety Team and led a working group of the FAA's BVLOS aviation rulemaking committee.

Services and programmes

• Vantis, the North Dakota statewide UAS network administered by NPUASTS, which enables beyond visual line of sight flight with a federal radar data enclave and Part 44803 approvals
• Consulting, waivers and certificates of authorisation, training and third-party validation for operators, with a programme management office that turns concepts into operational programmes
• Research and development with the University of North Dakota, North Dakota State University, GrandSKY and public and private partners in what the state calls its Silicon Valley of Drones
• Special programmes including the North Dakota Drone Replacement Program, now nearing final procurement, and ULTRA
• A monthly webinar series with subject-matter experts and a media kit for journalists

Team

The executive team includes Trevor Woods as executive director, Jeremy heading the programme management office and FAA regulatory pathways, Everett Dunnick as director of special programmes with more than two decades of leadership experience, Devona Janousek as director of finance and management, Kristy Bachman as administrative officer, a director of policy and regulatory affairs and marketing manager Victor Meza. Partners shown on its site include AUVSI, Autonomy Global, the North Dakota Department of Commerce and Alpha Charlie.

Shows

The Northern Plains UAS Test Site appears in the exhibitor and sponsor lists of the UAS Summit and Expo 2026, where it is listed as a gold sponsor, and XPONENTIAL 2027.

Contact

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