SDD v2.0 PRD
Introduction
We are obligated to upgrade our interUSS interface to comply with the Shared Airspace Service Description Document (SDD) v2.0 by March 6th, 2026. SDD v2.0 introduces priority of operational intents. There are two priority levels: low and high. To qualify for use of “high priority” operational intents, an Operator must submit a justification to the Shared Airspace Operations Committee. High priority operational intents are allowed to conflict with planned or active low priority operational intents.
Outcomes
This PRD is strictly limited to delivery of the Program Requirements and does not deliver a substantive outcome for our users. For example, this PRD will not result in a feature that allows Uncrew users to declare a “high priority flight” that would automatically overwrite planned low priority flights managed by external USSs.
Program Requirements
| Standard Req ID | Requirement Description | Details of Change |
|---|---|---|
| SCD0015 | A managing USS shall verify that an operational intent does not conflict with a higher priority operational intent before transitioning it to the Accepted state. | Strategy changed from ‘Not applicable’ to ‘Automated Testing (current)’; Reference description updated. |
| SCD0020 | A managing USS shall verify that an Accepted operational intent that is modified while remaining in the Accepted state does not conflict with higher priority operational intents before the modification is executed. | Strategy changed from ‘Not applicable’ to ‘Automated Testing (current)’; Reference description updated. |
| SCD0025 | A managing USS shall verify that before transitioning an operational intent to the Activated state, it does not conflict with a higher priority operational intent. | Strategy changed from ‘Not applicable’ to ‘Automated Testing (current)’; Reference description updated. |
| SCD0030 | A managing USS shall verify that an Activated operational intent that is modified while remaining in the Activated state does not conflict with a higher priority operational intent before the modification is executed unless the conflict already existed at the time the modification was initiated. | Strategy changed from ‘Not applicable’ to ‘Automated Testing (current)’; Reference description updated. |
| SCD0090 | When a managing USS creates or modifies an operational intent that conflicts with another operational intent, that USS shall send a notification reporting the conflict to UAS personnel or the operator’s automation system within ConflictingOIMaxUserNotificationTime seconds, 95% of the time. | Strategy changed from ‘Not applicable’ to ‘Automated Testing (current)’; Reference description updated. |
| SCD0095 | When a managing USS becomes aware that a new or modified operational intent conflicts with an existing operational intent it manages, that USS shall send a notification reporting the conflict to UAS personnel or the operator’s automation system within ConflictingOIMaxUserNotificationTime seconds, 95% of the time. | Strategy changed from ‘Not applicable’ to ‘Automated Testing (current)’; Reference description updated. |
Requirements modified for SDD v2.0 that do not impact development activity have been removed from this table.
Product Requirements
- A notification shall be automatically posted to Slack in #scd-cm-alerts when a high priority flight conflicts with an active flight.
- An Operator shall be notified through Mission Console when a high priority flight conflicts with an active flight they are assigned to.
Constraints
- Priority of flights shall never impact an RPIC’s operational control. Strategic Conflict Detection and Deconfliction are safety automation features that must support the Pilot’s aeronautical decision making.
- We must conform with the FAA accepted documentation in Sec 4.2.7.2 Midair Collision Imminent to ensure compliance with existing config while supporting the updated SDD.
- There shall not be any alerting of conflicts for active flights within Uncrew.
- External OIs will only be stored for 1080 hours (45 days) as required by the SDD v2.0:
USSs shall permanently delete data received from other USSs within ExternalDataMaxRetentionTime (1080) hours except when the data is required to be retained by the competent authority for a longer period of time to support incident analysis or the archival of incident analysis packages.
- A record of conflict alerts will only be stored in Slack (as opposed to an Uncrew database).
- There is not an updated monthly report template at this time, despite comments and requests from partners to track the impact of high priority operational intents. Should guidance be issued on a revised monthly report, that work will need to be accounted for by a separate PRD.
Timeline
We must achieve a passing test report no later than March 6th, 2026.
Appendix
The image below shows the GitHub issue template that Operators complete to request use of high priority operational intents.
