Following the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking (SJU) new funding announcement, EUROCONTROL, which is one of the SJU’s founding members, has said that it will be coordinating six of the research projects and contributing to a further 15.
The projects will be launched from mid-2026 onwards, and will run until 2029. They will comprise a substantial part of EUROCONTROL’s research and innovation work over the coming years.
The six EUROCONTROL-led projects will address challenges in modernising aviation and air traffic management in the coming years, including capacity constraints, network resilience and scalability, the delivery of greener trajectories and the integration of drones, space transport and higher-altitude operations, while making use of automation and AI.
The projects are:
- DiFeRent – addresses the urgent need for a new set of flight rules – Digital Flight Rules (DFR) – to safely integrate emerging aviation technologies such as UAS including RPAS, VCA and IAM flights into shared airspace.
- SCAN – reviewing, adapting and developing CNS infrastructure and services to ensure the safe integration of high-altitude operations (HAO) and space transport operations (STO) vehicles.
- IRINA 2 – enabling the safe and efficient integration of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) into ATC-separated and non-ATC-separated airspaces.
- NET-TBO 2 – covering trajectory management processes, from planning to execution, with a strong focus on network actors, developing a SESAR global TBO document, serving as a cornerstone for integrating TBO activities and ensuring global interoperability, validating four operational solutions targeting TRL6.
- ATC-TBO 2 – validating four trajectory-based operations solutions for flights in the tactical execution phase in en-route and TMA operations.
- APOLLO – producing and maintaining the SESAR Architecture, providing top-down guidance, consolidating programme-level results, and ensuring alignment with international standards and regulatory needs, while delivering reports to monitor solution maturity and progress on key ATM Master Plan dimensions.
The 15 projects EUROCONTROL will be contributing to span a wide range of activities including U-space, innovative air mobility and vertiports.
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