“SkyGrid is a major contributor to the initiative, responsible for advancing four critical ground-based capabilities that sit at the heart of any viable urban air mobility ecosystem.” Other consortium members include includes ANZEN Engineering, AI Methods, QCentroid Labs, and leading Spanish academic and regulatory institutions.
The concept comprises four elements. Ground-based traffic surveillance deploys radar and ADS-B & FLARM sensor networks for real-time awareness of cooperative and non-cooperative aircraft in low-altitude urban corridors. Micro-weather integrates high-resolution atmospheric data streams and AI-driven nowcast models tailored for eVTOL flight planning at low altitudes. Vertiport resource management offers digital services for autonomous scheduling and allocation of takeoff and landing slots across eVTOL fleets at scale.
And GNSS spoofing detection validates LTE-based monitoring to detect GPS jamming and spoofing threats — a prerequisite for safe autonomous navigation.
“These are not theoretical capabilities,” says Boeing. “VARIANT’s iterative methodology — grounded in NASA Technology Readiness Levels 1 through 4 — ensures that SkyGrid’s contributions progress through structured cycles of design, prototyping, and real-world validation. The project’s simulation environment is centered on Madrid Cuatro Vientos aerodrome, providing a high-fidelity operational testbed that includes human-in-the-loop scenarios with air traffic controllers and operators.”
“Safe autonomous aerial operations depend on reliable situational awareness, resilient positioning and timing, and intelligent vertiport management. VARIANT accelerates the development and validation of these ground-based services for high-density, low-altitude environments,” said Jia Xu, CEO, SkyGrid
ENAIRE will contribute operational expertise, support definition of the operational concept, and provide access to U-space and ATC simulators for integrated validation exercises.
VARIANT includes the procurement and deployment of sensor infrastructure from Fortem, Involi, DTN, Truweather, and Dimetor — hardware that will directly underpin SkyGrid’s development, integration, and validation work throughout the project lifecycle. This testbed infrastructure accelerates product development cycles and generates proprietary data and intellectual property in digital traffic surveillance, micro-weather, and GNSS security.
For more information
https://www.skygrid.com/skygrid-advances-urban-air-traffic-management-through-the-variant-project/