Airbus UTM projects and publications
Airbus Unmanned Traffic Management presents these use cases and publications proposing solutions that enable a safe airspace for all aviation partners.
SESAR Joint Undertaking and Airbus: partners in progress
Joint airspace safety
Airbus and Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) enjoy a longstanding relationship that contributes to an improved cross industry collaboration and a safer and progressively more sustainable airspace.
Past and running joint projects with SESAR include flight efficiency and flight trajectory prediction with the aid of air traffic management expertise.
UTM Lab pushing technology boundaries
Innovation in airspace
This Airbus programme conducts 4G and 5G network trials to evaluate the safety and performance of the technology for safety-critical communications within real-world environments in low level airspace.
An example trial is Motley Gateway, an algorithm solution that architects ‘indisruptable’ transmission of data payloads by incorporating redundancy into the UTM network access.
5G and unmanned traffic: a powerhouse tech opportunity
Innovation in airspace
Connectivity is a key enabler for unmanned vehicle systems to operate safely. 4G and 5G networks need to be tested for systems requirements and aerospace compatibility.
Airbus partners with external tech experts such as M1 to drive robust safety first solutions and keep in step with the exponential developments in this space.
A new digital era for aviation
Joint airspace safety
In 2020, Airbus and Boeing issued a joint whitepaper outlining a path forward for airspace and traffic management, stressing the need for a more modernised and scalable approach to air traffic management, with an underlying and continuous commitment to airspace safety.
The two aircraft manufacturers share a common vision of a future airspace where new and existing users safely operate within a single airspace system.
Open skies for all
Urban Air Mobility
As long as the skies remain relatively empty, access to airspace isn't a problem. But as drone operations scale up and urban air mobility applications become a reality, the need for fair and equitable access will increase. In 2020, Airbus UTM and Metron Aviation put together a paper to outline what airspace fairness is, in a UTM context, and why it is important to start addressing it now.
eVTOLS as a future mode of transport
Public perception of Urban Air Mobility
What does the general public think of future urban air mobility and electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOLS)? To move the discussion into the public domain, Airbus UTM conducted this community perception study in 2019 that surveyed 1,500 members of the public around the world. They were quizzed on perception of safety, sound and visual impact, privacy and more.
A blueprint for the sky
Integration of autonomous aircraft
In 2018, after months of careful analysis by Airbus engineering teams a concrete roadmap proposal for the safe integration of existing and new autonomous vehicles into lower airspace was published. The proposals were reviewed by IATA, GUTMA, the World Economic Forum among others.
Open source simulation tool for drone management
Sustainable traffic systems
Airbus UTM developed a dynamic tool in 2018, that can provide an estimate on the number of drones a region might see in a particular area given economics and other factors.
The simulation tool can be applied to the entire aerospace industry, providing valuable data to inform industry standards and gain a global consensus on what the airspace of the future will look like.
