Access 5 was a national project run by NASA in collaboration with industry, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the United States Department of Defense (DoD), in order to introduce high altitude, long endurance (HALE) remotely operated aircraft (ROA) for routine flights in the National Airspace System (NAS).
It was the first project in the United States to formally attempt to integrated unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system (NAS).
The goal of Access 5 was to enable what government and industry leaders believe will ultimately be a robust civil and commercial market for HALE ROA.
The project was terminated on February 28, 2006 after a reorganization of NASA's research programs to focus on returning man kind to the Moon.
The cancellation of the program led members of the UAV National Industry Team (UNITE) alliance, which includes Boeing, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, AeroVironment, and Aurora Flight Sciences to advocate for a new national plan in testimony before the United States Congress.