The AURA project aims to ensure seamless and safe cooperation between U-space and air traffic management (ATM/ATC) by developing procedures and systems to support the needed interface between these two systems.
Our goal is to manage high volumes of manned and unmanned traffic operating safely and concurrently in the same airspace through an accurate view of the traffic.
This research promises to inspire a new part of the U-space industry, boosting economic development, competitiveness and innovation in public services. Inspections, logistics, disaster relief operations, drone-related manufacturing and maintenance, as well as unmanned traffic management (UTM) services will be among the first activities to benefit from the AURA project.
The project outcomes will facilitate the work of regulatory bodies, which are working on establishing the rules which will govern urban air mobility, and the development of technological standards and solutions shared by all manufacturers and operators.
To make this a reality, AURA partners will determine the flight information that UTM and ATM systems must exchange in order to guarantee safe air operations. This information will be used to develop new procedures and systems to support these operations. All operational concepts and systems developed as part of the AURA project will then be tested in several validation exercises at different European sites. These validation exercises will combine both real flights and high-performance simulations with real traffic to validate our solutions and procedures.
The project is developing two solutions: the first focuses on the immediate needs for collaboration between U-space and ATM/ATC (collaborative U-space-ATM interface), whereas the second solution is about future needs, including UAM, mixed and non-segregated manned/unmanned traffic.
At EUROCONTROL, we contribute to the development of the “Medium- to long-term concept for a collaborative ATM-U-space environment”. This solution facilitates seamless operations of drones and manned aviation in non-segregated airspace.
Indra (Project Coordinator), AIRBUS, ANS CR (B4), Austro Control (COOPANS), DFS, DLR (AT-One), DSNA, ENAIRE, ENAV, EUROCONTROL, FRQ (FSP), Hungarocontrol (FSP), HONEYWELL, LEONARDO, LFV (COOPANS), NATS, NLR (AT-One), ON (B4), PANSA (B4), SINTEF, THALES AIR SYS and THALES AVS.
Different organisations and universities from all over Europe also contribute to the AURA project, working side by side with the main beneficiaries. These organisations are AOSL, CRIDA, DRR, D-FLIGHT, EGEOS, FSO, FCO, FRQ RO, HIsro, INECO, Indra FT, LDO GMBH, NAIS, TECHNO SKY, TPZ and UPM.
This project has received funding from the SESAR Joint Undertaking under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101017521.