Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems Integration in Controlled Airspace

Abstract

Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) gain increasing interest and use for civil applications. However, regulation for integration in airspace is not harmonised in Europe. Also flying beyond the line of sight (BLOS) is only possible by use of command & control communication through a reliable relay system. The ESA project DESIRE (Demonstration of Satellites Enabling the Insertion of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems in Europe), investigated to fly an RPAS as IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) traffic within national borders in controlled, non-segregated airspace by communication link via satellites. A real-time man-in-the-loop simulation environment has been set-up, where real air traffic controllers, a real pilot (for other traffic), and a pilot at an RPAS ground control station (GCS) participated to evaluate the concept. Several representative scenarios were evaluated, including emergency situations. We have shown that integration of RPAS in controlled airspace is a feasible concept. Air traffic controllers indicated that control of the RPAS did not differ significantly from control of other, manned aircraft, although at the beginning a slightly increased workload was observed. Other new types of aircraft like spacecraft or suborbital planes also will have to be considered, as they mainly will fly without pilots. The integration of both, RPAS and spacecraft in the future Single European Sky using a SWIM service for emergency information is discussed. In the future, adapted safety concepts which consider the special properties of RPAS and spacecraft are proposed to be investigated to achieve the same level of safety as for manned aircraft.