The Digital Flight enhanced Rules, enabling new technologies (DiFeRent) project (SESAR contribution EUR 999.770,55 – contractor Eurocontrol) addresses the need for a new set of flight rules — digital flight rules (DFR) — to safely integrate emerging aviation technologies such as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) including remotely piloted aerial systems (RPAS), vertical capable aircraft (VCA), and innovative air mobility (IAM) flights into shared airspace. “Current flight rules (VFR/IFR) were designed for manned aviation, and are not scalable or suitable for highly automated or remotely piloted operations. DiFeRent proposes a novel, interoperable, and automation-ready regulatory framework built around flight rules that take advantage of modern digital technologies, hence DFR. DFR will complement existing flight rules while enabling safe, efficient, and equitable access for all aircraft types, a crucial step in the evolution of the overall ICAO framework to support a highly automated ATM environment,” says the SESAR JU,
The Harmonised Integration and Verification of UAS Multiple Simultaneous Operations in the U-Space Environment (HIVE) project (SESAR contribution EUR 1.000.062,50 – contractor Firefly) addresses the challenge of the evolution of U-space to anticipate the rise of multiple simultaneous operations (MSO) as a driver for scalable and economically viable drone services. “Fleet operations, where multiple uncrewed aircraft are managed under a common fleet management system, are essential for logistics, surveillance and inspection,” says the SESAR JU. “Swarm operations, with aircraft flying in tightly coordinated formations, are moving beyond entertainment towards applications such as public safety, search and rescue and emergency response. Today, U-space is largely optimised for single-aircraft management, with separation provided by U-space service providers. Scaling this approach risks overloading service layers and constraining capacity. HIVE addresses this through a layered delegation framework, shifting selected separation and conformance functions to fleet or swarm management systems, supported by verifiable performance and safety requirements. By extending existing concepts of operations and developing new risk models and compliance frameworks, HIVE lays the groundwork for the safe, scalable integration of multiple simultaneous operations into U-space and the Digital European Sky.”
The Toolkit for Noise and Societal Impact Assessment of U-Space-Enabled Drone Operations (TUNED) programme (SESAR contribution EUR 996.121,83 – contractor Salford University) aims to develop an integrated toolkit to assess noise, societal and ecological impacts of new aviation entrants in U-space, supporting their sustainable deployment and the development of policy guidance. “Focusing on uncrewed aircraft systems, it addresses the limitations of existing drone noise models, which rarely capture diverse vehicle types, operating conditions, or wider societal and ecological effects,” says the JU. “The project will develop a machine-learning-powered toolkit that models acoustic impacts across urban, peri-urban and rural environments, and links noise exposure to human perception and wildlife disturbance. Based on representative case studies, it delivers advanced sound source modelling, noise acceptance thresholds under different operating scenarios, and methods to assess impacts on wildlife. The toolkit enables users to input operational trajectory data and receive estimated human and ecological noise exposure, supporting evidence-based U-space decision-making.”
According to the SESAR JU:
“The 17 selected exploratory research projects with a budget of just under EU 24 million will explore a wide range of novel concepts and applications, from quantum computing for real-time trajectory optimisation and quantum sensing for precise navigation, to AI-driven climate impact modelling, automated decision-support systems, and explainable AI for safe, resilient operations. Other areas to be addressed include the integration of mixed fleets of conventional, hybrid, and fully electric aircraft, and the development of digital flight rules and tools to manage multiple simultaneous drone operations in U-space. Meanwhile, the 25 industrial research projects with a total investment of EUR 326 million will advance critical transformation levers such as trajectory-based operations, automation, next-generation ATM service provision, as well as the swift uptake of solutions that boost resilience to GNSS jamming and spoofing, improve climate-neutral operations, and provide situational awareness and conflict detection of drones.
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