In recent years, new actors have appeared as new users, such as drones in the airspace, which are being used for multiple applications, from agriculture, inspections or surveillance to future uses such as Urban Air Mobility (UAM). With this extensive growth of airspace users, there is a need for coexistence and additional information exchange between manned and unmanned aviation.
The ENSURE project aims to define and validate a common interface and services for U-space and ATM. The project will also develop a dynamic airspace reconfiguration service to help ATC actors in charge of airspace management to maintain traffic segregation and to avoid proximity between manned and unmanned aircraft within the ATM U-space shared airspace.
The objective of ENSURE is to addresses U-space services, including high levels of automation, connectivity, and digitalisation of the Unmanned Aircrafts (UA) operations, U-space Service Providers (USSPs), air traffic management (ATM), as well as ATM–U-space interface, focusing on the standardisation of data models and information exchanges required between ATM and U-space system. The project will develop a standardised data model, architecture and operational methodology.
The project will also develop a dynamic airspace reconfiguration (DAR) service to help ATC actors in charge of airspace reconfigurations to maintain traffic segregation and to avoid proximity between manned and unmanned aircraft within the designated U-space airspace.
This service will enable the dynamic segregation of scaled operations in shared controlled airspace by (re)configuring airspace volumes in response to the changing manned and unmanned traffic demand. This solution will help define the responsibilities of the Air Traffic Controllers and DAR Managers, accounting for the impact on human performance, to ensure the operations are managed safely and efficiently
In this way, ENSURE promises to create an efficient and safe integration between U-space and ATM systems, defining and validating the common ATM-U-space interface composed of the integration of different services. The expectation is that the ENSURE outcomes will influence the evolution of the current standards and regulations, enabling the coexistence between all airspace users in shared airspace and supporting a significant growth of the UA market.
ENSURE will also have an impact on the expected economic potential of the drone market. The further development of U-space services concept of operations will also contribute to the rapid deployment of U-space roadmap in Europe.
The new drone applications will have a direct impact in society that will obtain direct benefit from the new services provided by UAs like the use of drones for search and rescue missions or transport of medicines or blood preservation. This direct impact will grow in the future with the use of drones for applications as delivery or urban air mobility.
All this will be possible as the project will facilitate seamless operations of drones and maned aviation in –shared– controlled airspace, increasing interoperability and airspace capacity in a safe manner.
