A UK initiative that seeks to enable the routine operation of unmanned air vehicles in non-segregated airspace will demonstrate the results of its first three years of activity in October, with its partners already working on proposals for a follow-on phase to include flight testing.
Partly funded by seven leading defence and aerospace companies including BAE Systems, EADS, Qinetiq and Thales, the UK government and several regional development agencies, the Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation and Assessment (ASTRAEA) scheme's £32 million ($63.2 million) first phase is mid-way through its last year of funded activities.
Also involving academia and smaller suppliers, the project has delivered real progress, says vice-chairman Nick Miller, also business director, UAV systems for Thales UK's Aerospace Division. The three-day simulation-based demonstration at the ParcAberporth UAV centre in west Wales, "will show how far we have got in opening the airspace", he adds.
Sixteen projects are focused on autonomous technologies, architecture development, suggested operating standards and mission planning techniques. Thales is leading work on sense and avoid technologies, and has for example integrated a traffic collision avoidance system within a UAV's electro-optical/infrared sensor. "ASTRAEA 1 has been a success," says Miller. "It is clearly understood that autonomy is the way forward."
Agreeing that "sufficient progress had been made in many areas of UAS work to warrant a substantial review", the UK Civil Aviation Authority's Directorate of Airspace Policy in late April published the latest revision to its CAP 722 "Unmanned Aircraft System Operations in UK Airspace - Guidance" document.
"As an upsurge in UAS activity is envisaged over the coming years, it is essential that both industry and the CAA clearly recognise the way ahead in terms of policy, regulation and safety standards," it adds.
To run for a further three years from January 2009, ASTRAEA's second phase wil include the production of prototypes, and culminate with flights by manned surrogate aircraft and UAVs. "By the end of phase two we would hope to possibly have a staged approach to flying [in non-segregated airspace]," says Miller. "But it might not be routine."
Can UAVs provide persistent surveillance when London hosts the Olympic Games in 2012? Miller says: "The [airspace integration] technology will probably be ready. But public perception and confidence is important."
Source: Flight International
