Kansas opens $2m AIR KS grant for drone test ranges and BVLOS operations

TLDR

• Kansas has opened AIR KS, a one-time $2m grant for UAS test ranges and BVLOS operations.¹²
• Applications close 22 November, awards come in December, and work must finish within eight months of funding.¹
• AVweb notes no projects are named yet and sets the grant beside the FAA's proposed Part 108 rules.²

Lieutenant Governor and Commerce Secretary David Toland announced the Air Innovation Range in Kansas (AIR KS) programme on 22 October, a one-time $2 million grant opportunity to support Kansas-based unmanned aircraft systems test ranges and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations.¹ The Department of Commerce says it will fund expanded BVLOS navigation infrastructure, greater commercial and public-sector use of the ranges, commercialisation in agriculture, rural healthcare, defence and emerging technologies, public-private partnerships, and the long-term operation and maintenance of test ranges.¹

Funds can go to navigation infrastructure, technology systems, software, professional services, equipment, travel and project management.¹ Eligible applicants include airport authorities and sponsors, municipalities, counties, government entities, private companies, nonprofits, universities, tribal governments or partnerships among them.¹ Work must be completed within eight months of receiving funds, paid in two instalments, with half at award and the remainder once the project is at least 50 per cent complete.¹ Applications opened on 22 October and close on 22 November, and awardees will be announced in December.¹³

AVweb adds context the department does not give: it says the grant comes as the FAA continues work on its proposed Part 108 framework for routine BVLOS operations, which has raised questions among general aviation stakeholders about right of way, electronic conspicuity and detect-and-avoid, and that Kansas has taken part in the FAA's BEYOND program.² It also says the state has not yet identified specific projects or locations that will receive the money.² Unmanned Airspace's report repeats the department's details.³

Why it matters: the grant is a small, state-level bet on BVLOS infrastructure ahead of federal rules, and the amount and eight-month window limit what it can build; watch the December awards to see which ranges and operators get the money.