EUROCONTROL set to play a key role in the next phase of SESAR projects

As one of the SJU’s founding members, EUROCONTROL is delighted to renew its commitment to the partnership and the Digital European Sky research and innovation programme which aims at speeding up the transition towards a green, climate-neutral and digital Europe, and at making European industry more resilient and competitive, bringing substantial value for every stakeholder in the aviation value chain.

This latest decision represents an important reinforcing of the Agency’s innovation strategy regarding the future of ATM innovation, one of the core drivers behind our new Trajectory 2030 strategy.

The projects will comprise a substantial part of the Agency’s research and innovation work over the coming years, leveraging in particular the EUROCONTROL Innovation Hub (EIH)' expertise, together with our expertise in sustainability, aviation intelligence, civil-military coordination, ATM architecture and performance, as well as the EUROCONTROL Network Manager’s extensive experience, and working closely  with a wide range of partners, including air navigation service providers (ANSPs), airports, airlines, higher altitude platform systems (HAPS) operators, research entities, academia and industry, to achieve tangible progress.

The projects – for which €254M in EU funds have been allocated to the call (with €230M of that earmarked for IR), will be launched from mid-2026 onwards, and will run until 2029.

The six EUROCONTROL-led projects will address major challenges in modernising aviation and air traffic management in the coming years, including capacity constraints, network resilience and scalability, the delivery of greener trajectories, and the integration of drones, space transport and higher-altitude operations, while making use of automation and AI.

In detail, they comprise:

• NET-TBO 2 – covering trajectory management processes, from planning to execution, with a strong focus on network actors, developing a SESAR global TBO document, serving as a cornerstone for integrating TBO activities and ensuring global interoperability, validating four operational solutions targeting TRL6.
• ATC-TBO 2 – validating four trajectory-based operations solutions for flights in the tactical execution phase in en-route and TMA operations.
• SCAN - reviewing, adapting and developing CNS infrastructure and services to ensure the safe integration of high-altitude operations (HAO) and space transport operations (STO) vehicles.
• IRINA 2 – enabling the safe and efficient integration of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) into ATC-separated and non-ATC-separated airspaces.
• APOLLO – producing and maintaining the SESAR Architecture, providing top-down guidance, consolidating programme-level results, and ensuring alignment with international standards and regulatory needs, while delivering reports to monitor solution maturity and progress on key ATM Master Plan dimensions.
• DiFeRent – addresses the urgent need for a new set of flight rules – Digital Flight Rules (DFR) – to safely integrate emerging aviation technologies such as UAS including RPAS, VCA and IAM flights into shared airspace.

The 15 projects EUROCONTROL will be contributing to span a wide range of activities such as future airport operations; CNS infrastructure; meteorological, climate and environmental impact services for aviation; climate impact of contrails; wake energy retrieval operations; U-space, innovative air mobility and vertiports; and performance assessment and reporting.