It's traditionally been the duty of a manned chase aircraft to follow large unmanned planes like the Ikhana when they attempt to navigate through airspace used by commercial aircraft. NASA says that it received special permission from the FAA to conduct its no-chase flight under a special waiver, which let the Ikhana rely on Detect and Avoid technology. In other words, the remote pilot on the ground was able to see and avoid other planes during the flight, ostensibly eliminating the need for a chase plane.
“We are flying with a suite of sophisticated technology that greatly enhances the safety capabilities of pilots flying large unmanned aircraft in the National Airspace System,” said Scott Howe, a test pilot. “We took the time to mitigate the risks and to ensure that we, as a program, were prepared for this flight.”
The successful flight was the first remotely piloted one to use detect and avoid tech to fulfill the FAA's "see and avoid" regulations.
