ASTM International Unveils Standards to Build VTOL Vertiports

ASTM International says that it has developed the first Standard Specification for Vertiport Design, listing requirements for the planning, design, and establishment of vertiports for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft.

The standard (F3423), which has taken ASTM’s unmanned aircraft systems committee five years of effort, aims to support the design of civil vertiports and vertistops.

Vertiports are areas that are specifically made to let advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft take off and land, along with other services including fueling, defueling, scheduled maintenance, scheduled repairs, or storage of aircraft. Vertistops are only used for unloading passengers or cargo.

The document is also expected to be used as a best practice document for other facilities.

“Everyone involved in the development and implementation of AAM transportation, and its supporting infrastructure will find this standard extremely helpful,” said Jonathan Daniels, ASTM International.

Rex Alexander, member and working group volunteer, ASTM International, said the challenge in developing this standard was with balancing safety and practicality.

“Without empirical aircraft performance data to rely on, the team’s goal was to develop a practical standard as a starting point that is not only safety centric but provides municipalities with a common-sense path forward,” said Alexander.

The new standard is the foundation for additional working groups supporting automated vertiports and connections through the vertiport supplementary data service provider (SDSP) work item.

Earlier in March, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued a 179-page document titled “Prototype Technical Design Specifications for Vertiports” to help guide planners and key organizations to design and standardize safe VTOL facilities.