
On August 29, 2023, Certiflight partners presented preliminary design results to
the project officer and reviewers. The Critical Design Review (CDR) is the third
major milestone of the project. Its objective is to ensure that the system
requirements and Concept of Operations (CONOPS) of the Certiflight solution are
defined and the platform specification is ready to start the development.

## Key outcomes

The main outcomes of the CDR are:

- A clear understanding of the users’ needs, market opportunities and the
  regulatory environment applicable
- The first results of the technical studies undertaken
- The definition of the CONOPS of the Certiflight operations
- The definition of the System Architecture
- The establishment of the system requirements
- And finally, the analysis of the Business Model of the Certiflight service

These outcomes make up a valuable input that makes it possible to start the
development and prototyping stage of the project.

<Picture
  src='/img/posts/certiflight-critical-design-review-group.jpg'
  alt='Participants in the CDR meeting'
/>

## Technical studies

The meeting started with the presentation of the results of the key technical
studies carried out since the beginning of the project:

- GNSS and GSD algorithms, including the Authenticated Position Propagation
  (APP) and the GNSS Spoofing Detector (GSD) services
- e-Conspicuity and automated separation algorithms
- U-space regulation compliance and standards

## Architecture, requirements and CONOPS

After the coffee break, the partners described the key design decisions adopted
for the development of the solution, following the established engineering
practices. These include the selection of the hardware and software design,
interfaces required with users and data service providers, and the alignment of
the requirements with the users’ needs.

## Business Model

The next section of the meeting was devoted to the presentation of the
preliminary Business Model for the Certiflight service, offering an overall
perspective on the market needs and potential of the Certiflight concept, the
added value of the proposed solution and the potential business models.

## Feedback from the users' survey and the Advisory Board

The partners shared the results of their efforts to get feedback from users,
service providers, authorities, regulators, and other stakeholders.

We will use this feedback to guide our communication and dissemination efforts,
and to identify where we need to improve the understanding of our solution by
the community.

The meeting took place from 9.30am to 16.00pm at the EUSPA headquarters in
Prague. Attendees were present both in person and online via streaming.



We held the first Certiflight Advisory Board in Naples, Italy, on May 17.

The event brought together about 50 experts, including representatives of the
European Commission, EUSPA (EU Agency for the Space Programme and funder of the
Certiflight project), ENAC (Italian National Civil Aviation Authority),
EUROCONTROL, drone associations, pilots and general aviation, as well as the
project partners.

The purpose of the meeting was to illustrate the project broadly to the
stakeholders first and then discuss its objectives and solution design.

Taking turns at the table, the experts discussed on panels about the project's
challenges and the surrounding ecosystem, such as the planned development of the
U-space, the use of Galileo OSNMA service and blockchain and the concept of
Smart Contracts.

<Picture src='/img/gallery/img-0462.jpg' alt='First panel' />

Another key part of the meeting was to analyse the impact of Certiflight on
safety, society and economy.

The workshop had constant interactive discussion aimed at collecting
stakeholders’ feedback, even through specific real-time polls and the explorary
survey, [which we invite to fill up](/survey).

The consolidated data will be presented in a dedicated document and will be of
great value for the further definition of the Certiflight services. In
conclusion, the statement that best sums up the spirit of the meeting is
“Certiflight is the project that is putting all the pieces together”, expressed
by Carmen Aguilera, from EUSPA. This strengthen the role that Certiflight has
among other relevant research projects funded by the European Union.

According to a participant in the Advisory Board:

Another key part of the meeting was to analyse the impact of Certiflight on
safety, society and economy.

The opinion and concerns of the attendees -who formed a broad group with a deep
knowledge of the problems that Certiflight intends to solve- were gathered. The
workshop had constant interactive discussion aimed at collecting their feedback.

Attendees took several surveys in real time to express their opinions on the
Certiflight concept and goals. The consolidated data will be presented in a
dedicated document and will be of great value for the further definition of the
Certiflight services.

In conclusion, the statement that best sums up the spirit of the meeting is
“Certiflight is the project that is putting all the pieces together”, expressed
by Carmen Aguilera, from EUSPA.

According to a participant in the Advisory Board:

<Testimonial
  picture='/img/posts/pawel-korzec.jpg'
  author='Pawel Korzec'
  position='CEO and founder - Droneradar'
>
The Certiflight project certainly responds to legislative and compliance needs of U-space. In the area of integration with Galileo OSNMA, the project will solve the problem of detecting areas where someone intentionally spoofs the satellite signal. Thanks to Certiflight, it will be possible to mark areas potentially at risk of fraud in UTM/ATM systems. On the other hand, Certiflight provides credibility to the process of archiving and storing historical flight data. This will be particularly important in the case of large-scale operations, when one of the parties: a client, a third party, a person ordering a service, a prosecutor, an investigator will need reliable data on flights performed (historical data). Importantly, Certiflight via Smart Contracts, will enable electronic signing of U-space events, understood as complex flight plans, geographical zones, telemetry, etc.

In a nutshell, the Certiflight project performs the function of ensuring data
consistency and reliability. In today's world full of cybercriminals, this
project seems extremely necessary. I keep my fingers crossed for the
implementation.

</Testimonial>

The Advisory Board took place from 10.30am to 16.30pm at the Reale Yacht Club
Canottieri Savoia in Naples and attendees were present both in person and online
via streaming.

<Picture src='/img/gallery/img-7348.jpg' alt='Family photo' />

To see more images from the Advisory Board Meeting,
[click here](/documentation/gallery).



On 21st of March, the representatives of EUSPA, the project consortium and the
two technical reviewers, met in Prague to discuss the preliminary design of the
Certiflight solution. The objective of the meeting was to agree on design
choices and better understand their implications, as those will be the basis for
the coming technical work of the project.

![Preliminary Review Meeting attendants](/img/posts/certiflight-preliminary-review-meeting-group.jpg)

The document D2.1 'User requirements and use case definition' triggered the
discussion among partners and reviewers. The project fundamentals and the use
cases presented in the document were debated in depth during the meeting
focusing on the reviewers' comments.

The ten use cases identified in the document were considered representative of
the added value of Certiflight in both business and safety needs of the users.
Among them we can mention last mile delivery, organic agriculture, port
surveillance, illegal fishing, airport runway inspection and traffic accident
investigation. The existence of so many use cases is the best sign of
Certiflight potential to further develop the concept of U-space as an exciting
new frontier for aviation.

The meeting has been also the occasion to provide an overview of ongoing
activities such as the development of communication materials, the selection of
suitable algorithms for spoofing detection and for automated separation. In
parallel, the partners have advanced the market analysis and preliminary
business model for Certiflight.

Following this successful meeting, Certiflight proceeds towards the next project
milestone: the Critical Design Review for whichsystem requirements, CONOPS and
platform specification have to be defined.

## Certiflight comes at the right time, according to EUSPA

The EUSPA Expert Monitor, Pere Molina, stressed that Certiflight project comes
at the "right time" because it "takes advantage of the current maturity of the
technology", but also adds innovation because it introduces "blockchain in the
authentication process".

<Testimonial
  picture='/img/posts/pere-molina.jpg'
  author='Pere Molina'
  position='EUSPA Expert Monitor'
>

It is outstanding how drone technology has evolved: some fifteen years ago, it
was all misbelieving; then total hype came afterwards, and we are now seeing how
the technology finally reaches its plateau, fueled by U-Space consolidation and
technology maturity. In this respect, Certiflight is timely as it proposes a
service within U-Space, based on available authentication mechanisms through
Galileo. It therefore leverages the current maturity of the technology, and adds
some more into it by introducing blockchain into the authentication process.

The project currently faces important milestones. The consultation of its
stakeholders is of paramount importance, and it will help shape the product and
trigger development activities. As an expert monitor for the EUSPA, I'm happy to
witness the progress of the project and help steer the activities to pursue its
final goal: the unleashing of the whole Galileo potential for advanced
applications.

</Testimonial>



## What is Certiflight

On Novemeber 23, 2022 took place the Kick-Off Meeting that marks the official
start of the Certifilght “Certified E-GNSS remote tracking of drone and aircraft
flights” project, a 30-month Innovation Action that aims to develop and test a
digital service for the generation of certified reports of flight tracks and the
flight logs of UAS and GA aircraft, especially for safety-critical and
commercially valuable applications.

The service will also be included in the USSP/UTM service provider’s software as
commercial Recording Service. In addition, the recorded tracks may be useful for
law enforcement, for instance sanctions for airspace infringement, as well as
for possible accident or incident investigations.

The core of the system is a Digital EGNSS/IoT Device installed on UAS and
General Aviation manned aircraft, equipped with an OSNMA Galileo/EGNOS enabled
receiver, capable to guarantee the authenticity of their position information at
the origin, without the possibility to be counterfeited or spoofed. Tracking
information is encrypted and once transmitted to the Certiflight platform is
permanently stored by automation software to an unalterable blockchain private
node.

<Testimonial
  picture='/img/posts/alberto-mennella.jpg'
  author='Alberto Mennella'
  position='Certiflight Project Coordinator'
>
    The CERTIFLIGHT project represents a very exciting challenge, as its aim is to ensure the “chain of trust” of information generated by drones and leisure aircrafts accessing the U-space airspace that it is expected to become very congested in the next years. 
With the advent of drones as mass-market and professional-market phenomenon, in the Open and Specific Categories, it is important to ensure that the related tracking data generated are trustful enough to be used both as payment mechanisms (for example, a trustful tracking system can be used as billing mechanism for Clients and UAS operators for charging drones’ missions based on the effective hours of flight) and trustful logging system. 
For this reason, CERTIFLIGHT aims at filling this gap through the implementation of a Certification platform for payload data and remote tracking generated by drones that can be used by UAS Operators, their Clients and Authorities as Auditing System.

The Positioning and time information of drones is ensured at the very origin,
through the Galileo OSNMA service which represents the “missing piece of the
puzzle” for this application. On the other side, the Blockchain technology
guarantees that each information stored in the platform cannot be altered or
being modified in the future.

Finally, our CERTIFLIGHT platform lays the foundation for a new class of
business services for UAS Operators but also to address the challenges of the
new paradigm of autonomous drones’ operations where the boundaries among drones
Constructors, Operators and Pilots (if any) might be source of future legal
disputes.

</Testimonial>

## Project information

The project is coordinated by TopView s.r.l., a technology oriented SME and
includes in its consortium companies and organisations with a proven track
record in the U-space sector such as D-Flight, UpVision, Unifly, Distretto
Tecnologico Aerospaziale, TA, The Sara Project, TuDelf, Way4WARD, Aria United,
EuroUSC España and EuroUSC Italia.

Certiflight was presented to the call HORIZON-EUSPA-2021-SPACE-02-53: EGNSS
applications for the Digital Age and became one of the projects selected by the
European Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). The project starts in November
2022 and will have a duration of two and a half years (30 months) after signing
the Grant Agreement no 101082484.

<Picture src='/img/posts/euspa.svg' alt='EUSPA logo' width='320' />


Certiflight news

Certiflight completes its preliminary design phase with a successful Critical Design Review meeting

Certiflight First Advisory Board meeting

Certiflight reaches its first major milestone, the Preliminary Design Review, in the EUSPA headquarters

Certiflight Kick-off meeting