Insights from the U-Space Seminar hosted by the Swedish CAA in Norrköping

The U-Space strategy forward in Sweden was demonstrated by presentations and panels addressing key elements such as first possible use cases of U-Spaces. The discussions underscored the country’s potential to lead in unmanned traffic management of approximately 500,000 drones. For AirDodge this was substantial validation that the market in the Nordics was heading in the right direction and an opportunity to provide services in the region.

The seminar touched upon the process of establishing a U-Space airspace. The process would entail the municipality of interest and primary users of the airspace such as first responders(ambulance, police ) and the USSP. These actors along with the civil aviation authority would be part of the Airspace Risk Assessment and the U-Space ConOps. Successful iterative review of both would lead to the establishment of a U-Space airspace.

Drone logistics was undoubtedly the highlight of this seminar showing a growing demand amongst stakeholders who presented their projects/studies within drone delivery. Central to their efforts was the utilization of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for critical health-related deliveries, particularly blood sample transportation and inter-hospital transfers. Logistics is an interesting sector for AirDodge, majority of the flights in U-Space will cater to all kinds of delivery.

Another interesting highlight was a presentation by the police, indicating a growing interest in integrating drone technology into their operations, recognising its potential to enhance law enforcement and public safety. Numbers showed that law enforcement had the largest fleet sizes with a few hundred drones. The first responders/Police are definitely key players in the current industry and would play important roles in the first roll outs of the U-Spaces in Sweden/Nordics.

In conclusion, this seminar showed a unanimous recognition of the importance of U-Space with the increasing prevalence of drones in commercial, governmental, and recreational domains. Industry players are seeking to establish “Sandboxes” i.e a test airspace which eventually transitions to a permanent U-Space. The most interesting players would undoubtedly be in the areas of delivery and operators who frequently fly in close to airports/urban areas.