The Air Navigation Systems (SNA) research group at ITACA-UPV actively participated in the SESAR Innovation Days held in Rome, Italy, from November 12 to 15. During the event, they presented two oral oral communications and a poster on the European projects SATERA and SPATIO. Additionally, they highlighted the progress of the regional CREATE U-space project, where they have a leading role in its development and implementation.
In the same week, the research team, led by Juan Vicente Balbastre, attended a coordination session organized by SESAR 3 JU—a public-private initiative funding air traffic management research in Europe under the Horizon Europe framework—and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. agency responsible for regulating air traffic and providing federal-level air navigation services.
This meeting focused on the latest advances in drone management systems applied to transportation and mobility
“The group’s participation in these international events underscores our commitment to applied research and the development of innovative technologies in air navigation and airspace management. The works presented not only stand out for their scientific quality but also for their significant impact on safety and efficiency,” said Juan Vicente Balbastre, head of the group.
Advanced conflict management in U-space
One of the presented research introduces an innovative service designed to predict and manage tactical conflicts between drones in U-space airspaces managed by multiple service providers. This service, aligned with CORUS CONOPS Ed. 4.0 and inspired by the ASTM F3411-2022a standard, allows the exchange of flight information (telemetry) between different service providers through a centralized system that periodically updates drone positions. These findings summarize results from the CREATE U-space and SPATIO projects.
“The service incorporates concepts from the European BUBBLES project, which focused on tactical conflict detection, and extends them to a multi-provider scenario by deeping into the development of tools such as databases and data exchange protocols. This achieves proper interoperability between all systems”, explained Abraham García Ibáñez, a researcher from the SNA group that developed the study.
To validate its effectiveness, simulations were carried out with real data from the flights used in the BUBBLES project’s validation campaign.
‘The results obtained represent a significant step forward in in U-space development, demonstrating that with this new approach can detect tactical conflicts in complex multi-operator scenarios with similar results to that obtained with simpler single-supplier systems”, said the head of the SNA group.
Innovation in air traffic control
The second paper presented focused on advancements in air traffic surveillance through space-based ADS-B systems (SB ADS-B). This technology enables aircraft to send identity and position information to satellites, particularly in remote areas like oceans where ground stations are not feasible.
“SB ADS-B systems not only reduce the separation between aircraft but also optimize routes and altitudes, enhancing airspace operational efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, they face challenges related to interference that can compromise the integrity of transmissions,” said Víctor Monzonís Melero, a researcher from the SNA group who presented the study.
To address these challenges, the SATERA project is developing an integrity estimator using multilateration techniques (MLAT) with signals captured by low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites.
“This approach adapts terrestrial algorithms to the space environment, improves accuracy through advanced techniques, and applies filters like Kalman and interactive multiple models (IMM) for more reliable tracking. Additionally, a prediction tool has been created to evaluate the theoretical performance of the system in space, laying the groundwork for future developments,” concluded Víctor Monzonís Melero.
Funding agencies
The presentation of these results was made possible through the support of the following organizations that funded these projects:
BUBBLES project has received funding from the SESAR Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 893206.
SPATIO project has received funding from the SESAR Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon programme under grant agreement No. 101114674.
SATERA project has received funding from the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 101164313. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme and the SESAR 3 JU members other than the Union.
CREATE U-space project (CIAICO/2022/044) has received funding from the Conselleria de Innovación, Universidades, Ciencia y Sociedad Digital of the Generalitat Valenciana.
