The first drone equipped with the TRACE project took off earlier today. It bears an EGNOS-enabled beacon that allows the aircraft to be identified while guaranteeing accurate, robust positioning and improving separation.
Today, the drone lifted off the ground at the ATLAS experimental flight centre in Jaén, Spain, an aerodrome equipped for carrying out flight tests with unmanned aircraft systems such as RPAS and drones.
The Regional Minister for Economic Transformation, Industry, Knowledge and Universities, Rogelio Velasco said:
This event shows Andalusia’s commitment to hosting initiatives that promote innovation in the region.
Using enhanced signals coming from EGNOS, the EU’s regional satellite-based augmentation system, TRACE supports the safe and effective integration of drones into U-space by providing essential services like e-registration, e-identification and pre-tactical geofencing among others.
TRACE is a pioneering project in Europe that will allow us to demonstrate the advantages of EGNOS, particularly in terms of greater precision in locating drones».
The TRACE project team—funded by the GSA EGNOS Adoption in Aviation grant—designed and developed a smart beacon that leverages EGNOS’s robust signal corrections to improve the positioning accuracy and, thus, the safety of drone operations at very low altitudes.
Carolina Jiménez, TRACE project manager at ALTER TECHNOLOGY added, «Additionally, TRACE will demonstrate compliance with the European Drone Regulation, an important aspect within the ALTER business line, since one of the fundamental requirements in this new regulatory framework is that each system has the capacity for remote identification for future secure integration within the Air Space for these systems or U-space“….”
The TRACE project is led by ALTER TECHNOLOGY and is the result of collaboration among renowned European companies such as UNIFLY (Belgium), PILDO LABS, and FADA-CATEC (Spain).
Vodafone and CATEC presented the 5G Lab of ATLAS within the 5G initiative of RED.ES. Furthermore, a case of use of 5G with drones for urgent defibrillator delivery was demonstrated with the participation of Fundación SSG, Vodafone and the technological support of CATEC.
The drone market is booming, and it is expected to outstrip any other user base in the aviation market. According to estimations, revenues from drone-based services are expected to exceed 150 million euros by 2023. GNSS is a key technology that is enabling drones, and its role is expected to continue to grow. Solutions like TRACE that utilise European GNSS, namely EGNOS and Galileo are real differentiators that can be leveraged in order to integrate drones into non-segregated airspace and into the U-space safely.
What is EGNOS?
The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) is Europe’s regional satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS), used to improve the performance of global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs), such as GPS and, in the future, Galileo. It has been deployed to provide safety-of-life navigation services to aviation, maritime, and land-based users throughout most of Europe.
ALTER is a quality-driven company that provides engineering and test services for electronic systems and E.E.E. components in the space and harsh environment markets. ALTER works in many markets, including, but not limited to, Aerospace (including RPAS/Drones), Security, Transport, Telecom, Energy, Health and safety, and Automotive.
FADA-CATEC is the Advanced Aerospace Technologies Center that promotes and develops technological knowledge and its transfer to the productive aerospace industry, with significant activity in developing drone technologies and the entity that manages the ATLAS test centre.
PILDOLABS is an engineering company specializing in delivering cutting-edge technology and services in the aeronautics and aerospace sectors.
UNIFLY is a software company with a platform for safely integrating drones into the airspace. An award-winning spin-off company of VITO (Flemish institute for technological research), specialized in aviation software development.
The European GNSS Agency (GSA) manages operations, security, and service provision for Europe’s Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Galileo, and EGNOS. By working with stakeholders, industry, service providers, and user communities, the GSA ensures the highest return on European GNSS investment, multiplying the benefits of space applications for European citizens and business, boosting innovation and competitiveness, and securing sustainable economic growth.
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