Photo: EHang
If manufacturing the eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing) themselves and the development of dedicated infrastructure can be considered the first and the second step, respectively, towards UAM (Urban Air Mobility), air traffic control technology would be the third step. A complex European project is investigating that, and the latest to join in is Chinese manufacturer EHang.
SAMVA (SBAS/EGNOS Adoption in Multicopter VTOL Aircraft) is the name of an EU-funded project that focuses on the implementation of satellite operations on eVTOLs. EGNOS (SBAS) stands for European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service, and is meant to support the airspace integration of future air taxis.
U-Space is the term used by EU to designate a new set of regulations for the safe and secure access to airspace of unmanned aircraft. Satellite-based capabilities such as EGNOS are supposed to provide enhanced navigation guidance for future eVTOLs operating in urban centers, and support what is called “U-Space airspace integration.”
Aeroports de Catalunya, Pildo Labs, the Airports Regional Council and Thales-Alenia Space are some of the players that are part of the SAMVA consortium.
Another one is EHang, which has recently announced that it joined forces with Aeroports de Catalunya with the goal of setting up an operational center at the Lleida-Alguaire airport. This is where the EGNOS system will be tested onboard the EH216 eVTOL. The future flight demonstrations will provide useful feedback on the importance of satellite-based operations for UTM (Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management) tasks.
Testing this operational system on a real eVTOL in an airport environment is an important step for the implementation of autonomous commercial flights in the future.
This announcement comes after EHang conducted successful flight demonstrations of the EH216 in Spain, last month. The demonstrations were part of another project related to U-Space, but the Chinese manufacturer’s collaboration with Spain started even earlier than that, in 2021, through a project with the Spanish National Police.
U-Space is the term used by EU to designate a new set of regulations for the safe and secure access to airspace of unmanned aircraft. Satellite-based capabilities such as EGNOS are supposed to provide enhanced navigation guidance for future eVTOLs operating in urban centers, and support what is called “U-Space airspace integration.”
Aeroports de Catalunya, Pildo Labs, the Airports Regional Council and Thales-Alenia Space are some of the players that are part of the SAMVA consortium.
Another one is EHang, which has recently announced that it joined forces with Aeroports de Catalunya with the goal of setting up an operational center at the Lleida-Alguaire airport. This is where the EGNOS system will be tested onboard the EH216 eVTOL. The future flight demonstrations will provide useful feedback on the importance of satellite-based operations for UTM (Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management) tasks.
Testing this operational system on a real eVTOL in an airport environment is an important step for the implementation of autonomous commercial flights in the future.
This announcement comes after EHang conducted successful flight demonstrations of the EH216 in Spain, last month. The demonstrations were part of another project related to U-Space, but the Chinese manufacturer’s collaboration with Spain started even earlier than that, in 2021, through a project with the Spanish National Police.
Google News