Droniq and DFS receive UTM Innovation Award

The ATM/UTM Awards are presented by the Air Traffic Management Magazine and the Unmanned Airspace platform. The awards recognise outstanding ideas and achievements in the areas of safety, innovation, cost efficiency and environment in airspace management. A high-profile jury consisting of industry representatives examined and evaluated the project proposals submitted. Droniq and DFS are among five award winners in different categories.

The UTM Innovation Award recognises projects that advance the integration of drones into airspace. Droniq and DFS entered the competition in this category with their U-Space Sandbox in Hamburg. In this Sandbox, set up with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV), Droniq and DFS demonstrated for the first time how the European Union's U-Space concept can work in practice. An essential component of the project implemented in 2021 was the UTM system developed by DFS and marketed by Droniq, which was used to provide the services mandated in a U-Space. From 2023, these U-Spaces can be set up in Europe. These areas will allow drones to be safely and efficiently integrated into airspace, including the interplay with manned aircraft. This will enable the regular use of drones, for example in logistics, agriculture or in the medical sector.

"With the launch of U-Spaces, the drone market will soon open a new and exciting chapter," said Droniq CEO Jan-Eric Putze. "In our previous U-Space projects, we have already gained the necessary experience to actively shape this development, both in terms of the technical requirements for safe and continuous U-Space operation and in terms of the expertise required. We are excited about the time ahead and are well equipped to play our role." 

Arndt Schoenemann, CEO and Chairman of the DFS Executive Board said: "It is important to put the first U-Spaces into action to advance the safe integration of drones into airspace. With the U-Space Sandbox in Hamburg, we have convincingly demonstrated how this can be done and at the same time we have demonstrated the DFS group’s technological capabilities. Unmanned aviation is an important part of future air traffic, which will in certain fields become increasingly autonomous in its operations."

Winners and runners-up in the categories were:

Overall Excellence: Airbus, NATS, DSNA, NAVCANADA, EUROCONTROL, IAA - fello'fly, wake energy retrieval to boost environmental performance on long haul flights 

ATM Innovation:

Winner:  Airbus, NATS, DSNA, NAVCANADA, EUROCONTROL, IAA - fello'fly, wake energy retrieval to boost environmental performance on long haul flights 

Runner Up:  AustroControl - ESTC - Enhanced Surveillance Tower Control 

Upper Airspace:

Winner:  UAVOS, Inc. and Stratodynamics Inc - HiDRON

UTM Innovation:

Winner:  Droniq GmbH, DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH - Europe’s first U-space implementation 

Runner Up:  National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), AirMap, AiRXOS, Alaska Center for UAS Integration, Amazon Prime Air, ANRA Technologies, Avision, Collins Aerospace, Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence & Innovation, Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership, Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems, New York UAS Test Site, Northern Plains UAS Test Site, OneSky, Simulyze, Uber, Wing Aviation - UAS traffic management team 

UAS Detect and Avoid:

Winner:  America Aerospace Technologies, Inc and OneSky Systems, Inc. - Airborne Detect and Avoid Solution for UAS: Design and Implementation with Real-Time Avoidance, UTM Integration, and True BVLOS Operation 

Runner Up:  D-Fend - Enforce Air

UTM/ATM Communications:

Winner:  American Aerospace Technologies, Inc., Blue Sky Network and Iridium Communications - Global SATCOM based C2 solution for UAS in the NAS 

Runner Up:  VANTIS/uAvionix - First implementation of dedicated aviation grade C2 network for UAS