skyguide, a Swiss air navigation service provider, and AirMap, a global airspace management platform for drones, are developing what they call the first national drone traffic management system in Europe.
According to the partners, the system, to be deployed in Switzerland, will be the first national deployment of Europe’s U-space. Much like the U.S.’ unmanned traffic management (UTM) initiative, U-space is a collaborative effort to enable situational awareness, data exchange and digital communication for the European drone ecosystem.
In a pilot phase starting this June, skyguide and AirMap plan to integrate the AirMap UTM platform with skyguide’s infrastructure and introduce automated flight authorization in a single airspace environment. They will also develop a roadmap for Swiss U-space that will set the stage for the deployment of a fully operational drone traffic management system in 2024 and beyond.
Swiss U-space will ensure that all categories of drones and all types of missions can safely take flight in Switzerland’s airspace. Swiss U-space will include the following features:
- Blockchain-based registration for users and drones;
- Dynamic geofencing and instant digital airspace authorization;
- Real-time traffic alerts for drone pilots and live drone telemetry for airspace managers;
- Connectivity and communication between drone pilots and airspace administrators; and
- Other services to enable simultaneous flights in shared airspace.
“After a year of successful collaboration with AirMap, we expect that the AirMap UTM platform meets the highest standards required for a Swiss U-space,” says Klaus Meier, chief information officer of skyguide. “We’re looking forward to bringing U-space capabilities to Switzerland, and we are excited to drive this innovation together with AirMap.”
“With Swiss U-space, Switzerland aims to safely open the skies for drone commerce,” adds Ben Marcus, CEO of AirMap. “We’re proud to work with skyguide to bring AirMap UTM to Switzerland and make it possible for more pilots, more drones and more missions to take flight in Europe.”
The partnership follows the success of skyguide’s 2017 Swiss U-space trial, a live demonstration of U-space services in Europe. Together, skyguide, AirMap and SITAONAIR exhibited fully operational U-space capabilities – including registration and identification, geofencing and flight authorization – during live drone missions performed by senseFly and PX4 in Geneva.
