The Hera Drone Hub in Zaragoza, Spain is the first European drone test center located in an urban environment, near an airport. An urban drone test center offers many advantages for the drone ecosystem, who need to test advanced operations: now, Hera Drone Hub has announced a partnerhip with Altitude Angel, global UTM (unified traffic management, or U-Space) technology provider, to provide UTM through its GuardianUTM Enterprise platform.
“The test environment, which will allow operators and pilots to train with drones of up to 500kg in weight, is made up of two TSAs within the Zaragoza CTR which are approx. 2.5 kilometers (1.55 miles) apart. The River Ebro, which cuts through the city, provides a natural corridor over which drones can operate between the two TSAs,” says an Altitude Angel press release.
Altitude Angel’s GuardianUTM Enterprise is a U-Space (the European platform for unmanned traffic management) developed to help airports control drone operations within their managed airspace. Now, the system’s deployment at Hera Drone Hub “will be its first in a city environment, which as well as demonstrating the platform’s flexibility, also reflects the growing want and need of cities to control and manage the airspace above them,” says the press release.
“GuardianUTM Enterprise will provide Hera Drone Hub with a combined view of the airspace in its TSA, enabling the Hub to fulfill its aim of conducting BVLOS operations safely using Altitude Angel’s proven digital authorisation and flight management technology.”
Olivier Quero, Altitude Angel, Regional Sales & Partner Manager (EMEA South), said: “The Hera Drone Hub is the next step in demonstrating how cities can adopt U-Space technology to unlock the potential of drones to safely and securely operate in an urban environment. The Hub will provide the blueprint for local and regional councils and governments around the globe who wish to embrace the ‘smart city philosophy’ and enable a strong and sustainable drone economy.”
Miguel Ladrón de Cegama, Chief Technology Officer of Hera Drone Hub, added: “The union between Hera Drone Hub and Altitude Angel represents a giant step towards the incorporation of drones in urban and interurban environments in a completely safe way thanks to the different management and monitoring tools offered by Altitude Angel.
“The alliance also allows the common search for business opportunities and collaboration with other companies, technology development and access to a test bed resulting from the only test space in Europe located in the CTR area and urban environment. The objective of Hera Drone Hub is so all UTM and U-Space developers can test their systems at its facilities in Zaragoza.
“From Hera Drone Hub we are very happy with the incorporation of Altitude Angel technology in our facilities, it will allow us to offer total control of operations to both authorities and operators in an unprecedented way.”
Operators interested in conducting tests at Hera Drone Hub send a request through its website, where they will have to select the type of activity they want to develop; flights, certification, consulting, training or support and acceleration in the project development, before being given permission to fly.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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