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Tag: SUGUS

  • SUGUS project launches survey for drone users, GNSS communities

    SUGUS project launches survey for drone users, GNSS communities

    Image: Tanaonte / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images
    Image: Tanaonte / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images

    SUGUS — a European Commission project to promote European GNSS services for the integration of drones into the airspace — is conducting an online survey of stakeholders.

    SUGUS, the European Commission’s project for the development of European GNSS (Galileo and EGNOS) services for U-space, is carrying out a survey to identify, gather and understand stakeholders’ needs, and to improve user experience of E-GNSS in complex operations and built-up areas.

    U-space is a set of new services and specific procedures designed to support safe, efficient and secure access to European airspace for large numbers of drones.

    SUGUS members invite all the stakeholders to take part in the survey, including suppliers of U-space services, manufacturers of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) platforms and GNSS receivers, UAS pilots and operators, public bodies, authorities and organizations, and centers for UAS testing and training.

    The survey will be available until May 15.

    The survey results will be used as a valuable input to tailor the E-GNSS Service Provision layer to specific drone missions’ needs, allowing a better mitigation of risks in complex operations like BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) and UAM (urban air mobility), increasing safety and security.

    Also, the points of view collected will help to define the requirements and then the implementation of a new E-GNSS-based API which will deliver live and forecast information about performance, coverage, alerts to users and more.

    The API will be called upon by UTM service providers, UAS designers or UAS systems developers, and integrated in existing commercial solutions.

    “The survey organized by SUGUS is a key element for E-GNSS Programs to capture user requirements of the drone community,” explained Miguel Aguilera, European Commission advisor. “The results will be used to enhance EGNOS and Galileo Service Provision targeting drone operations, increasing safety and security, and facilitating a swift and efficient deployment of U-space.”

    SUGUS Project

    SUGUS (Solution for E-GNSS U-Space Service) is a European Commission’s project to promote European GNSS services (EGNOS and Galileo) for the drone market and for the effective and safe integration of these aerial platforms in the airspace.

    It is a European Union H2020 R&D project to be carried out by GMV (main contractor) with everis Aerospace, Defense and Security as co-leaders of a consortium also involving VVA Brussels, ESSP, FADA-CATEC and Unifly.

    SUGUS will help to develop services geared towards the effective integration of drones into the airspace. A series of trials will be held to show the benefits of E-GNSS for drone operators, as well as its approval by aviation authorities.

  • European drone-airspace integration project kicks off

    European drone-airspace integration project kicks off

    Photo by: aerogondo/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images
    Photo: aerogondo/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

    GMV has been awarded the SUGUS project (Solution for E-GNSS U Space Service), which aims to speed the adoption of GNSS and Galileo in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) segment and ensure safe airspace access by unmanned aircraft.

    SUGUS is an 18-month, 485,000-euro European Union research and development project. A series of trials will be held to show the benefits of E-GNSS for drone operators as well as its approval by aviation authorities.

    The project will be carried out by a GMV-led consortium including Everis Aerospace, Defense and Security; VVA Brussels; EGNOS service provider ESSP; FADA-CATEC and Unifly.

    The demand for UAV services is steadily increasing, with the potential to generate significant economic growth, as recognized in the 2015 European Union Aviation Strategy. More recently, the 2016 European Drones Outlook Study (by SESAR — Single European Sky ATM Research) estimated that the European drone market will clock up 10 billion euros a year by 2035 and more than 15 billion euros annually by 2050.

    U-Space services

    U-Space is a set of new airspace-management services and procedures designed to ensure airspace access too UAVs while looking out for operational security, the right to privacy and the safety of persons and infrastructure. These services rely on a high level of digitization and function automation, whether onboard the drone itself or part of the ground-based environment.

    Several initiatives are underway in Europe to develop U-Space and work toward the safe and efficient coexistence of manned and unmanned air traffic.

    At the same time, new European legislation on operating unmanned systems is providing a uniform, Europe-wide framework. The new regulation is broken down into three drone operation categories:

    • Open, calling for no AESA clearance or operator declaration
    • Specific, where both clearance and declaration will be necessary
    • Certified, reserved for riskier operations.

    To help integrate drones into the airspace, SUGUS will center on the Open and Specific flight categories.

    SUGUS tasks

    SUGUS will demonstrate the benefits for drone operations of the measures implemented at service-provision level and the new EGNSS API (European GNSS application programming interface) to be implemented in the project.

    These benefits included the mitigation of operating risks, improvement of preparation processes and clearance of the operator’s mission. Such measures as expected to ease future urban aerial mobility operations, such as aero taxis or parcel delivery.

    For the first step in this endeavor, SUGUS will carry out a review of the results of previous EGNSS projects while also pinpointing the needs of drone operators and unmanned traffic service providers in complex operations and built-up areas.

    This analysis will help to define and then implement the new EGNSS-based API.

    SUGUS will also be running several flight trials in complex environments to prove the benefits of the drone-operation measures. The overarching idea is to raise awareness and contribute towards drone standardization and regulation to maximize the chances of the proposed services being implemented as a U Space service.