Dynamic Airspace Re-configuration for Drones with Varying Mission Requirements : The Evolution from Project AURA to Project ENSURE

Abstract

In the future, operators of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are expected to further extend their activities beyond altitudes of 500 ft, which is the current very low-level (VLL) limit in urban and suburban environments. This means that vehicles performing such operations will need to share airspace resources with manned traffic at higher altitudes. The SESAR Industrial Research Project AURA investigated requirements for an interface between Air Traffic Management (ATM) controlled airspace and highly automated U-space airspace for large numbers of unmanned aircraft to identify practical segregation methods. ATM U-space Shared Airspace (AUSA) was defined as a generic type of airspace that can be delegated between the two regimes by a process called Dynamic Airspace Re-configuration (DAR). In AURA this process was not automated but carried out by an air traffic controller, the DAR Manager. AURA results indicated that DAR processes will need refinement to better streamline communication between all actors. Furthermore, investigated U-space contingency scenarios showed that different types of situations need different DAR approaches. Accordingly, automation support levels may also change when different types of contingency are encountered. The SESAR 3 ENSURE project is expected to address these communication and automation issues in the DAR process and validate the changes through simulations and flight trials. This paper describes the results of NLR experiments with human-in-the-loop simulations carried out for AURA and what changes will be introduced and tested in ENSURE. It will also give an outlook into the different types of scenarios considered for future flight tests.