Telecommunications company Telefónica, has obtained authorisation from the Spanish Civil Aviation Authority (AESA), for Spain’s first fully remote drone-in-a-box beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operation.
Murzilli Consulting, which supported Telefónica through the approvals process, said the authorisation was achieved through a collaborative process with regulators.
“The operation included a series of BVLOS drone relocations, using a drone-in-a-box system,” Murzilli Consulting explained on April 21. “The pilot was located in a control centre in Madrid, hundreds of kilometres away from the location of the flight. The operation was conducted in a semi-autonomous manner, with drones deployed from automated docking stations. It involved different types of airspace and various aircraft platforms, and supporting technologies. This made it possible for the operation to be tested and developed under different operational conditions.”
Through the SORA process, Murzilli Consulting analysed ground and air risks, determined the required mitigation measures and defined operational safety objectives. Another important aspect of this approval process was the ability to conduct operations across different airspace environments, as the operations may occur in areas with varying levels of population density and aviation activity.
The operation was mainly designed for surveillance, fire prevention and other operations that may deliver significant added value to society.
Telefónica has also obtained a second BVLOS authorisation for industrial perimeter monitoring, which also covers a drone-in-a-box BVLOS drone operation with a remote pilot, managed from Telefónica’s control centre.
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Image: Murzilli Consulting