No standard existed. So we wrote one.
The client's tethered heavy-lift cargo drones fell between three standards, none of which fit. Tomco authored TSG-PS 001 and built the first conforming safety case so they could ship before the standard formally existed.
How the engagement ran.
The client's tethered heavy-lift drones move 50–200 kg payloads on permanent power tethers across urban logistics corridors. The form factor falls outside ISO 21384 (untethered UAS), ISO 10218 (fixed industrial robots), and ASTM F3322 (sUAS parachute recovery) — and no national aviation authority had a regime that fit.
Tomco authored TSG-PS 001 — Tomco Public Specification for tethered heavy-lift logistics — covering tether mechanics, fail-safe descent, exclusion-zone management, and human-overflight risk. We shepherded the draft through an SDO working group toward ISO/PAS submission, with parallel co-submissions in ISO TC 20/SC 16, ASTM F38, and RTCA SC-228.
While the standard moved through SDO process, we built the world's first conforming safety case against the public draft — letting the client achieve commercial operations under an aviation-authority special permit nine months after the initial whitepaper. The standards work continues; the client keeps shipping.
Who signed it.
Names withheld by policy. Credentials and program references verifiable on request under NDA.
The regime, line by line.
One signed thread, end to end.
- 01Whitepaper — gap analysis across ISO 21384, ISO 10218, ASTM F3322
- 02TSG-PS 001 draft — tether mechanics, fail-safe descent, overflight
- 03SDO working group — ISO TC 20/SC 16 co-submission
- 04First conforming safety case — applied TSG-PS 001 to client platform
- 05Aviation special permit — granted on the basis of public-spec evidence
- 06Signed release — AFSP co-signature, evidence chain held under public draft
Want this for your program?
We embed AFSPs and agents into your safety case the same way we did on this engagement. Client references available under mutual NDA.