UAS Control Center Bremen USSP the future U-Space Service Provider b.r.m. IT & Aerospace by Harald Rossol and Markus Rossol

We look forward to your visit to the AERO and the joint stand of the State of Bremen (Hall 2 Stand 309).

The USSP b.r.m. and U-Space Norddeutschland are featured in the January issue of the trade magazine Drones to coincide with the entry into force of the EU Implementing Regulation on U-Space. The market pressure is there. Read the exclusive article here in advance:

This article was published in issue 1/2023 of the trade journal Drones, the magazine for the drone economy. This and all other available issues are available in the magazine store at https://www.alles-rund-ums-hobby.de/drones/ .

As part of the AVIASPACE BREMEN e.V. roadshow, Bremen-based IT service provider b.r.m. was able to demonstrate concepts that enable the integration of UAVs and UASs into conventional air traffic, known as U-Space. Together with the development and system service provider OptoPrecision GmbH, further innovative projects are being added to the VTOL-EGM project.

U-Space provides motivation

With the establishment of U-Space, an airspace for unmanned flying objects, EASA has created the cornerstone for coordinated civil drone aviation. Means such as iConspicuity will make air traffic safer and open up the market for U-Space service providers.

In the VTOL-EGM project, the companies OptoPrecision GmbH and b.rm. are developing solutions to make environmental monitoring more efficient. These are used for extensive measurements at sources of environmental pollution. Since pollution is present in many places that are difficult or resource-intensive for humans to access, UAS with remote pilots are used.

U-Space Service Provider

While OptoPrecision GmbH, with its many years of experience in surveillance, (AI) detection and tracking, takes care of sensor development, drone development and operation, b.r.m. assumes the role of a U-Space service provider. This includes tasks such as network identification, UAS flight approval and geo-sensitization. The Hatten-UAS test site for drone testing has already been used in the VTOL-EGM project and is located at the Oldenburg-Hatten EDWH airfield. The 16-hectare airfield is also perfectly suited as a base of operations thanks to its favorable location. Hatten-UAS can also be used for training and testing.

The commercial use of UAS must take place integratively within the airspace with other manned aircraft participants; there can be no segregation. The temporary closure of different airspaces for a UAS flight is now a thing of the past. Close cooperation between the various stakeholders will ensure that U-Space North Germany is created. The establishment of U-Space Norddeutschland will provide the innovation boost that aviation needs to open up the drone market.

Harald Rossol and Markus Rossol presented the exact procedure for this project in the AviaSpace Roadshow presentation. We would also like to thank all participants for the successful event!

You can find out more about the North German aerospace cluster on the Aviaspace Bremen e.V. website

March 20th marks the beginning of spring in the meteorological sense. Birds, bees and other insects will soon begin to roam our skies, but not only them. Drones or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) have already become part of the airspace, not only as a hobby for RC enthusiasts, but also for the U-Space Service Provider b.r.m. .

The EASA has been working for some time on the cornerstones for coordinating civil drone aviation throughout the EU. To this end, the establishment of a new airspace, the so-called U-Space, is being prepared. Alongside other airspaces (such as the Gulf), U-Space is intended to enable manned and unmanned aviation to coexist.

U-Space - space for drones

A separate airspace just for drones is a difficult undertaking. After all, all aircraft have to land and take off, and any risk of collision must of course be avoided at an early stage, especially over conurbations. For this reason, the current concept of U-Space is designed to cause as little inconvenience as possible to other manned aircraft. The drones should register with a corresponding U-Space Service Provider (USSP) in the established U-Space and thus receive information on traffic information and other services that are necessary for safe operation. EASA is currently in the discovery phase in order to include transponder-free flight participants. Under the term iConspicuity, existing technologies such as ADS or Mobile are to be used to make every flight participant a conspicuity. This information can then be used to avoid a dangerous approach in advance.

What is a U-Space Service Provider?

The USSP (U-Space Service Provider) will be used at the interface between unmanned and manned space flight. It will provide various services to enable drone operators to navigate safely through U-Space. The core tasks will be the processing of "flight authorization" and "strategic de-confliction". Strategic de-confliction ensures that the submitted flight plan is checked for conflicts in the airspace.

There will of course be a service for registering the drones so that both the USSP and the authorities can access the status of the UAV. In addition to the relevant traffic information, consideration is also being given to which other services are useful for drone operators.

Outlook 2022 - What we can expect

Before the end of the first half of this year, the EASA intends to issue regulations on how the "iConspicuity" visualization of manned aircraft can be implemented in a meaningful way without introducing additional equipment or even a transponder requirement. We would then be a good deal closer to the permanent establishment of U-Space and civil drone traffic would already be within reach.

In the meantime, the UAS/UAV test center is being further expanded at the Oldenburg-Hatten airfield. Take a look at our current VTOL EGM project and visit the website of our project partner Optoprecision.