The European SPATIO project has held an open day in A Coruña, where uncrewed traffic management (UTM) systems were demonstrated under real conditions.
The SPATIO project, led by Spanish ANSP ENAIRE through its R&D subsidiary CRIDA, is a strategic initiative of the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking with a duration of three years (2023–2026). The aim of SPATIO is to develop advanced U-space services that enable the safe integration of uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) in European skies. The project has more than 20 European partners and is funded under the SESAR programme under grant agreement no. 101114674, of EUR 7 million.
To date, the project has developed and validated advanced services focused on managing separation between UAS, combining pre-planning and real-time control to prevent drone conflicts. SPATIO has also developed advanced services to identify and mitigate the acoustic impact of drones, preventing noise from exceeding levels that are bothersome to the public.
The project also allows for the identification of areas at higher risk of incidents over populated areas, establishing limits on aircraft density in these zones to ensure ground safety.
During last week’s open day, held at the ITG technology centre’s experimentation centre, attendees were able to learn firsthand about the project’s results through technical presentations and live demonstrations. The event began with a background presentation by the European Commission, through the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking, followed by an overview of the SPATIO project and its fit within the European framework, presented by ENAIRE.
CRIDA, Sopra Steria and INECO then demonstrated how to dynamically manage airspace capacity taking into account the impact on noise and the safety of the population with live demonstrations and results.
Indra presented another solution from the project focused on predicting and resolving conflicts during flight, and operators such as ENAIRE, CRIDA and INECO participated in the live demonstration of these capabilities in a multi-service provider U-space environment.
The SPATIO project concludes with the final event at ENAIRE’s headquarters on September 22, 2026. The Spanish ANSP says SPATIO has “helped lay the groundwork for future high-performance U-space airspaces, facilitating operations such as logistics, inspection and urban air mobility, while also promoting social acceptance by controlling factors such as noise and visual impact.”
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