SHEPHERD is a two-year research initiative funded by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) public contract Horizon Europe Project: UAS standard.
SHEPHERD consortium members are currently working on the assessment of initial standards which will be finalised by February 2023. In March 2023, these results are then set to undergo review from EASA’s experts and external advisors. Subsequently, in April 2024 the results are due to be released for public viewing. Following that milestone completion, efforts will shift towards evaluating a second suite of standards.
Comprised of 9 consortium partners, project SHEPHERD is seeking to build on the work achieved by AW-Drones and further analyse the standards listed in the European UAS Standards Coordination Group (EUSCG) UAS Rolling Development Plan. The previously conducted assessment looked at various factors including maturity, coverage, compliance costs & environmental impacts; however SHEPHERD will delve deeper into technical content for evaluating if these standards align with safety regulations.
According to a press release, key participant ANRA is providing the project with expertise in technical evaluation, design & airworthiness for standards related UTM/Uspace, Vertiports and command, control & communications.
ANRA consortium partners include Azur Drones, Deep Blue, EuroUSC Italia, German Aerospace Center, Michael Allouche, Murzilli Consulting, Volocopter and Wing.
For ongoing updates on project SHEPHERD, visit the SHEPHERD webpage on the EASA website.
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