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Drone Trials Support BVLOS within the UK
by DRONELIFE Staff Author Ian J. McNabb
The UK Civil Aviation authority recently announced six recent drone trials designed to bring BVLOS drone operations closer to broad release, inviting several organizations to take part in their recent innovation sandbox. The chosen projects include medical drone deliveries, energy infrastructure inspection, and open “sky highways”, and are designed to reinforce and plot out the long run of BVLOS operations within the UK.
The chosen projects and organizations involved include Apian London Health Bridge; Cranfield Airport and Project BLUEPRINT; Droneprep Open Skies Cornwall; HexCam; Skyports Project TRAject; and Snowdonia Aerospace Centre Project Dragons Eye.
These recent trials will help develop plans for a way drones could be safely integrated with other airspace users, as a part of the regulator’s wider Airspace Modernisation Strategy.
The trials will consider a brand new policy concept that focuses on a particular variety of airspace structure called a short lived reserved area (TRA) to enable the trialling of systems and approaches to securely enable drones to operate inside the same airspace as other aircraft.
Prior to the brand new concept, drone operators wanting to fly BVLOS typically needed to apply for a short lived danger area (TDA), which might effectively close a bit of airspace for many other users for as much as 90 days.
Sophie O’Sullivan, head of Future Safety and Innovation for the UK Civil Aviation authority, said “Our innovation sandboxes play a pivotal role in our ongoing mission to develop efficient, forward-thinking regulations that can allow various kinds of aircraft to make use of the identical airspace. The chosen projects encompass a spread of critical applications, including medical deliveries and infrastructure surveying. They highlight the various role that drones could play within the aviation ecosystem and the trials will provide invaluable insights into how we integrate drones safely with existing airspace users.”
More information on the UK’s efforts to modernize their airspace management strategies could be found here.
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