European Network of U-space Stakeholders Meeting at European Defence Agency

European Network of U-space Stakeholders met in Brussels on 12 December 2025. Hosted by European Defence Agency, the meeting was attended by 120 people representing ANSPs, regulatory bodies, UTM technology providers, drone operators, consultancies, industry associations, OEMS, research & educational institutions, airport & maritime port authorities, and UTM service providers. 

Christopher Vivier, Deputy Director for Industry, Synergies & Enables Directorate, EDA highlighted the importance of U-space as key digital infrastructure to enable rapid expansion of unmanned aviation in the European skies. U-space matters to the defence community in the evolving geopolitical environment. Member States face increasing security challenges. Amongst others, they include illegal and hostile UAS activity along borders, around critical infrastructure and in sensitive airspaces. Against this backdrop, the military must be able to access airspace reliably and safely whenever required—for training, operations, support to civil authorities, or crisis response. U-space is essential to achieving this. From a defence perspective, U-space offers at least three key advantages:

• Predictability and assured access to airspace
• A recognised air picture for low level airspace
• Interoperability across border

Christopher Vivier stated that “U-space is not only a civil aviation innovation; we also see it is a strategic enabler for European defence”.
EDA has been working closely with Member States militaries, the European Commission, EASA, Eurocontrol and industry to ensure that U-space implementation is compatible with military requirements from day one in the following ways:

• Developing military use cases
• Support development of criteria for Trusted Drone label
• Contributing to the U-space regulatory framework
• Providing military perspective on the recognised air picture

DG Move highlighted the importance of European Network of U-space Stakeholders in bringing together different actors of the ecosystem. Collaboration of teams from DG Move, EUROCONTROL, EASA, SESAR JU and EDA to manage the U-space stakeholder network demonstrates joint commitment of European institutions to focus on U-space implementation. Christine Berg, Deputy Director for Aviation, European Commission (DG Move) stated that drivers impacting drone industry have changed from the time EU Drone Strategy 2.0 was released in 2022. Today, security of critical assets is extremely important. EU Drone Strategy 2.0 will be adjusted in 2026 to align with the current and future needs of EU market.  Cross border U-space has become more important than before. More emphasis on dual use of drones is expected going forward and this will be reflected in the updated EU Drone Strategy 2.0. Another important consideration in Europe is to protect its intellectual property in the U-space market. New rules will be brought in next year to put checks in place to protect acquisition of European businesses by non-European companies. Simplification of U-space rules is also planned in 2026.  Work on Trusted Drone Label has been ongoing, and tangible deliverables are expected in 2026.

The economic viability of the U-space ecosystem lies in the free movement of USSPs in the EU, that is enabled by the mutual recognition of certificates between EASA Member States. When a USSP is certified by a MS, the certificate is valid and must be recognised by all other MS. However, these straightforward principles conceal a much more complex reality, and obtaining a certificate does not mean that USSPs are immediately capable to provide their services in any U-space airspace. Some key areas to consider in onboarding of USSPs are:

• Governance at U-space airspace level, ‘local coordinator’, arbitration/dispute resolution
• Air Risk Assessment (ARA), capture of the performance requirements, clear safety criteria baselined for the USSP
• On-boarding considerations/anticipation at certification time
• Integration phase, step-approach, test campaigns, operational trials, validation of the ARA assumptions
• Continuous operational/safety monitoring, oversight, safety events (occurrence) management
• Roles of certifying vs receiving authorities, memorandum of cooperation

U-space regulation 2021/664 states “The traffic information service shall include information about manned aircraft”. Manned aircraft operating in airspace designated by the competent authority as a U-space airspace and not provided with an air traffic control service by the ANSP, shall continuously make themselves electronically conspicuous to the U-space service providers. There are different means available for manned aircraft to make itself e-conspicuous. EUROCONTROL is running a flight campaign to study the technical performance of available e-conspicuity technologies and provide results to the regulators.

As cities explore solutions to manage congestion and environmental challenges, Urban Air Mobility (UAM) emerges as a promising alternative for transporting goods and people. However, the successful implementation of UAM depends on understanding and addressing the needs and acceptance of citizens. Factors such as time savings, reduced congestion, and environmental benefits contribute to a positive reception for certain use cases. Conversely, concerns about security, safety, noise, affordability, and the allocation of urban space present significant barriers. To effectively integrate UAM, it is essential to tailor strategies to specific user segments and address regulatory and infrastructure prerequisites within a multilevel governance framework. This approach will help shape UAM into a seamlessly integrated and sustainable mobility solution for citizens. Cities across Europe have started preparing for implementing U-space as a key step to deploying UAM. Coordinating with multiple actors of U-space ecosystem in each city is vital. It is equally important to have a leader that champions the cause of U-space implementation in the city. Cities like Helsinki, Dublin and Zurich have common objectives from U-space implementation but are customizing their implementation approach to suit their local needs.

The aim of U-space is to enable drone operations. U-space will help scale up drone operations, which are expected to provide benefits to the society in Europe. With U-space implementation ongoing, we need to keep our focus on achieving scalability of drone operations.

The meeting ended with a poll where the audience identified U-space areas the next meeting should focus on in Helsinki on 15 April 2026. The Support cell of European Network of U-space Stakeholders (DG Move, EUROCONTROL, EASA, SJU and EDA) is grateful to the European Defence Agency for hosting a highly productive meeting.