SESAR JU announces new funds for AAM and drone demonstrator research

Implementing innovative air mobility (IAM) and drone operations is one of a series of new SESAR JU Digital European Sky Demonstrators to be funded by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) in a new EUR 2.5 billion call under the Connecting Europe Facility, containing provisions in the areas of automation, virtualisation and support for the Green Deal.

“The Demonstrators are a key tool to support the SESAR JU’s vision of delivering the Digital European Sky, and making Europe the most efficient and environmentally-friendly sky to fly in the world,” said the SESAR JU in a press release. “The Demonstrators, when selected, are expected to be launched in 2025 and to run until 2027..

Proposals may address one or more of the following SESAR-related topics:

• Implementing innovative air mobility (IAM) and drone operations
• Alerts for reduction of collision risks on taxiways and runways
• Optimising airport and TMA environmental footprint
• Dynamic airspace configuration
• Increased automation support
• Transition towards trajectory-based operations (TBO)
• Virtualisation of operations
• Transition towards high performance of air-ground connectivity (multilink)
• Service-oriented delivery model (data driven and cloud based)
• CNS optimisation, modernisation and resilience

“The Demonstrators take place in live operational environments with the main objective to prepare the technological solutions for implementation,” said the SESAR JU. “As such, the demonstrators are part of an innovation pipeline designed to bridge the gap between applied/industrial research and deployment, and to accelerate market uptake. Critical to their success are the involvement of early movers, as well as a close coordination with relevant standardisation and regulatory activities and bodies.The deadline for submissions is 21 January 2025.”