For commercial drone operations to reach their full potential, UAS Traffic Management or “UTM” systems will need to change to accommodate uncrewed technological advancements and regulatory changes. Maintaining order of uncrewed vehicles flying at low altitudes is not easy to do, so aviation experts and engineers are developing new ways to help operators and regulators share information, coordinate takeoffs and landings, enable deconfliction, and maximize safety in the air and on the ground.

Over the past few months, Commercial UAV News has reported on a number of advances in the UTM space, along with a few setbacks. Here’s a roundup of recent UTM news:

AI Fuels Advances in UTM

As the drone industry heads toward a new era with regulatory changes that will enable longer flights, many firms are looking to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) to improve UTM systems. For example, ANRA Technologies  and Airspace Link recently announced that they are using AI to “develop scalable UTM solutions, focusing on surveillance and monitoring. AI processes data from multiple sources (e.g., ADS-B, radar) to provide situational awareness and ensure compliance with regulations.” The companies reported that AI has “enhanced real-time tracking, predictive analytics, automated flight authorization, and vision-based collision avoidance, driving the growth of safe and scalable drone operations.”

Streamlined Airspace Coordination

Speaking of ANRA Technologies, the company also recently announced that launch of its MMX Lite platform. As reported in UAS Weekly, MMX Lite is “a streamlined and globally accessible platform for strategic airspace coordination” that helps businesses, public agencies, and others “manage shared airspace without the benefit of formal U-space frameworks.” To accomplish this goal, MMX Lite offers “a lightweight version of ANRA’s award-winning Mission Manager X (MMX) platform, enabling safe, digital coordination.”

Altitude Angel Enters Administration

In October, Commercial UAV News Staff Writer Juan Plaza wrote about the news that UK-based Altitude Angel had entered administration – which is the equivalent of insolvency. Plaza said that Altitude Angel was “a leader in unmanned traffic management (UTM)” and “the company’s collapse has disrupted drone operations across the UK and Europe.” The company’s problems, he explained, were “the result of mounting financial losses, despite backing from major investors like BT, Seraphim Space, and the UK’s taxpayer-funded Future Fund, and also a direct consequence of the stalled drone regulatory momentum in Europe.”

Given Altitude Angel’s position as a UTM leader, Plaza said that the news would be harmful to commercial drone success in Europe. “European UTM deployment has fallen behind global competitors,” he wrote. “Countries like China and the U.S. have adopted more flexible frameworks, while the U.K.'s and EU’s cautious approach made it hard for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) like Altitude Angel to thrive.

UTM Enables Medical Deliveries by Drone in Belgium

Around the world, drones have proved essential in delivering critical medical supplies quickly and safely. For these operations to expand and improve, UTM systems must improve along with them. Such progress was recently reported in Belgium, where Unifly has used its UTM to platform to enable “the delivery of real-time U-space services for medical drone delivery trials in Belgium, operated by Skyports Drone Services.” A statement from Unifly explained that they took part in a trial project to fly drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) between hospitals in Belgium’s Kempen region.” For the effort, drones flown remotely from the United Kingdom carried “time-sensitive medical cargo, including pathology samples and medication.” were flown remotely from the United Kingdom. Unifly asserted that is “UTM platform enabled digital flight planning and automated authorizations, real-time airspace and traffic monitoring, tactical deconfliction and conformance monitoring, and integration with cross-border regulatory authorities.”

Dynamic UTM from Airwayz

As reported in Commercial UAV News, “TM and mission management systems developer Airwayz has introduced a new version of its Dynamic UTM system that includes enhancements in “automation, intelligence, and efficiency” to provide “clearer situational awareness, mitigates air risks, and reduces the cognitive workload for both airspace managers and drone operators.” The system upgrade features a drone database that “speeds up flight request submissions, improves UTM communication, and delivers more accurate mission statistics,” the ability to replicate “recurring missions in seconds,” and real-time updates to “active or scheduled missions without cancellation, creating smoother and more flexible operations.”