18 July 2022
The world’s largest and longest network of drone superhighways is to be built in the UK, it was announced at the Farnborough International Airshow which starts today (18 July 2022).
A consortium led by Reading based Altitude Angel has been given the go-ahead by the UK government for the project.
The drone superhighway will link cities and towns throughout the midlands to the southeast of the country, with the option to expand the corridor to any other locations in the country.
Altitude Angel, working with BT’s mobile network EE and a number of UK tech start-ups, will build and develop 165 miles (265km) of ‘drone superhighways’ connecting airspace above Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Coventry, and Rugby over the next two years.
The plans for the superhighway, called ‘Project Skyway’, were proposed as part of the Department for Business, Energy & Strategy (BEIS) InnovateUK programme which aims to support business growth through the development and commercialisation of new products, processes, and services.
“The capability we are deploying and proving through Skyway can revolutionise the way we transport goods and travel in a way not experienced since the advent of the railways did in the 18th century: the last ‘transport revolution’, said Richard Parker, CEO and founder of Altitude Angel.
“The ARROW® technology we are building here is transformative – it is the basis of Skyway and the only scalable, viable mechanism to start integration of drones into our everyday lives, safely and fairly, ensuring that airspace can remain open, and crewed and uncrewed aviation from any party can safely coexist.
“Skyway gives us not just the opportunity to ‘level up’ access to green transportation across Britain, but we can benefit first and export it globally. We are therefore thrilled to be flying the flag on the global stage for UK Plc.”
The drone superhighway will work with other aircraft using a Detect And Avoid system
Dave Pankhurst, BT’s Director of Drones, added, “The social and economic potential of drones is immense and requires close industry collaboration to fully unlock these opportunities in a safe and responsible way.
“Project Skyway will be crucial to showcase how the UK can not only lead the creation of new jobs and public services, but form the backbone of how we integrate drones into our daily lives.”
Skyway will collaborate to deploy a ground-based, networked ‘Detect And Avoid’ solution, where possible on existing infrastructure, hooked up to Altitude Angel’s global UTM system, which ‘stitches’ data from multiple sources together in real-time to create an ultra-high-resolution moving map of the low-altitude sky.
At present, drones cannot be flown without a human pilot. The consortium says Skyway will connect a drone’s guidance and communication systems into a virtual superhighway system which takes care of guiding drones safely through ‘corridors’, onward to their destinations, using only a software integration.
The consortium:
1 comment
Well thats done and dusted then, what has happened to consultation? Personally not against drones, but the sky isnt theirs alone. The areas shown are extremely busy with many GA aircraft Noteworthy that the CAA are not listed as part of the consortium either or in any way involved. Do they not have the over riding responsibility? along with consultation as to how it will integrate with existing? One can only hope that the people involved appreciate THEIR responsibility. Noteworthy that the report states “they are building the system” One has to hope that its better than many of the recent systems unveiled which have spectacularly failed, no loss of life……………….yet
Vintage GA Flyer