Kraettli L. Epperson

Kraettli L. Epperson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Vigilant Aerospace Systems. Mr. Epperson has a 25-year career as a software developer, systems architect, product manager and technology company executive. His leadership in unmanned systems innovation is recognized in the industry and he is a frequent expert speaker at major UAS industry conferences addressing topics such as unmanned aircraft detect-and-avoid, and UAS flight safety and airspace management systems. Mr. Epperson is a selected member of the FAA’s Aviation Rulemaking Committee for Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight UAS flight rules and is a member of the ASTM F38 Committee and the RTCA on technical standards for unmanned aircraft. He also serves on the Steering Committee of the UAS Tech Forum. Mr. Epperson is the co-author, with NASA Senior Research Engineer Ricardo Arteaga, of multiple AIAA industry research papers on autonomous systems and a 2020 AIAA paper with Oklahoma State University researchers on use of detect-and-avoid systems in beyond visual line-of-sight flight testing. He is an FAA certified Part 107 remote pilot with over fifty hours of hands-on flight time and has participated in over 30 flight tests of unmanned aircraft systems, including flight testing at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center and at the Oklahoma State University Unmanned Systems Research Institute. He is also the co-inventor of four technology patents.