CORUS-XUAM is a major demonstration project aimed at gathering research knowledge and know-how on air traffic management (ATM), unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and urban air mobility (UAM). In the kick off meeting participated over 70 experts and members from the SESAR Joint Undertaking.
Concept of Operations for European U-space Services – eXtension for Urban Air Mobility is a two-year project managed by SESAR Joint Undertaking and funded by Horizon Europe 2020. It will identify and test the U-space services, capabilities and solutions for UAM to operate safely and efficiently. The project is coordinated by the EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre in Brétigny, France, which includes 19 partners and 11 linked third parties, including Groupe Aéroports de Paris, AOPA UK, ASLOGIC, DFS, DLR, Droniq GmbH, DSNA, ENAIRE, ENAV, HEMAV, INDRA, LFV Group, NATS, Pipistrel VS, SkeyDrone, Unifly nv, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Volocopter, M3 Systems, Ehang Holding GmbH, Hologarde, CRIDA, D-FLIGHT, NAIS, DTA, IBG, Linköping University, Citymesh, SABCA.
CORUS-XUAM aims to answer the main question for UAM: how more people and packages can travel in and around cities – by point-to-point flights, bypassing ground congestion and reducing journey times – while achieving the target of decarbonizing cities and providing smart and sustainable mobility solutions. The project’s goal is to emphasize the importance of U-space solutions for integrated operations that necessitate mutual traffic situational awareness. It will demonstrate integrated operations of manned and unmanned aircraft in urban, suburban and inter-city scenarios, as well as in and near airspaces and airports under ATM. This project will also look into ways to improve the interface with ATM/ANS (air navigation services) with a particular emphasis on airport operations.
To allow UAM operations, CORUS-XUAM will first consolidate the U-space CONOPS and create reference demo scenarios with advanced U-space services. To capitalize on the challenging demonstration campaigns that will be carried out in participating countries, a project demonstration or validation plan will be developed. These demonstrations will feature a combination of manned and unmanned operations in difficult environments, such as near airports and other vital infrastructures including ports, as well as very low-level operations in urban, sub-urban and inter-urban areas. To assist the consortium in consolidating the proposed U-space services and relevant CONOPS, a project advisory board with a diverse set of stakeholders, as well as a larger U-space community network, will be established. The findings and recommendations will be compiled into a final report on early U-space solutions for UAM deployment in late 2022, which is expected to be used by regulatory authorities.