Certiflight reaches its first major milestone, the Preliminary Design Review, in the EUSPA headquarters
March 27, 2023
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.
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".
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.
Pere Molina
EUSPA Expert Monitor