MissionGO has won an XCELLENCE Award at the Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International (AUVSI) XPONENTIAL 2021 in Atlanta. The entry ‘MissionGO Completes Longest UAS Human Organ Delivery Flight’ was selected from a pool of accomplished applicants in the Humanitarian category.
The award is for two successful and record-setting test flights conducted with Nevada Donor Network, an Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) serving the state of Nevada. The first flight transported research corneas from Southern Hills Hospital to Dignity Health – St. Rose Dominican, San Martín Campus. The second flight delivered a research kidney from an airport to a location outside of a small town in the Las Vegas desert, the 10-mile flight marking the longest organ delivery flight in UAS history.
“This award is a testament to MissionGO’s trailblazing work– the research conducted during our test flights are another data point to illustrate that unmanned aircraft are a reliable mode of transportation for life-saving cargo, and that MissionGO’s UAS are safe for both the payload and people on the ground,” said Frank Paskiewicz, EVP of Cargo Operations at MissionGO. “MissionGO will continue to lead the way with more research flights to operationalize the first-ever human organ transplant shipment system across all OPOs, transplant centers and hospital systems to take full advantage of the efficiency and scalability of UAS delivery.”
MissionGO chose Donate Life America to receive the $1,000 award donation to support its outstanding work in donor registration promotion and education in order to increase the number of donated organs, eyes and tissues available for transplantation.
Upon accepting the donation Karen Headley, Vice President, Partnerships & Philanthropy at Donate Life America, said “We are grateful for MissionGO’s support. MissionGO’s work will be instrumental in increasing the lifesaving gift of donation through safe and effective organ transports.”
“During the last year, the unmanned systems industry rose to meet urgent new challenges posed by the pandemic. It is inspiring to see organizations and companies that led this charge,” said Brian Wynne, President and CEO of AUVSI. “As unmanned systems become increasingly integrated within our society, AUVSI is pleased to recognize this distinguished group for their innovative work that will accelerate our industry forward toward assured autonomy.”
The AUVSI XCELLENCE Awards honor individuals and organizations that are innovators in the unmanned systems industry, with a demonstrated commitment to advancing autonomy, leading and promoting safe adoption of unmanned systems, and developing programs that use these technologies to save lives and improve society.
