PODIUM consortium reaches conclusions on U-space maturity

The SESAR Horizon 2020 PODIUM project reviewed its conclusions on U-space maturity and recommendations for deployment with an invited group of engaged stakeholders at EUROCONTROL Brussels on the 17^th of October.

PODIUM has performed U-space demonstrations for BVLOS and VLOS flights at five operational sites in Europe, namely: Hans Christian Andersen airport, Odense; the Netherlands RPAS Test Centre, Marknesse; Groningen Airport Eelde; the Drones Paris Région cluster, Brétigny-sur-Orge; and Rodez-Aveyron airport.

“Thanks to PODIUM, innovative drone pilots and manufacturers, air traffic controllers and nominal U-space supervisors have used U-space services and systems hands-on,” explains Peter Alty, the EUROCONTROL project coordinator, “providing the team with valuable insights on the ease-of-use, the benefits, and areas for improvement.“

PODIUM concludes that there is a very strong demand from all stakeholders for U-space solutions that can ease the burden of obtaining flight authorisations, and that increase situational awareness to enable safety and efficiency benefits during flight execution.

The project concludes that U-space services for the pre-flight phase are practically ready for deployment, but that significant action is needed to ensure that U-space services can really take-off in the flight execution phase. In particular, PODIUM has important recommendations relating to tracking, the human machine interface for drone pilots, and the access to trustworthy data.