Spaceport Cornwell, the first licensed spaceport in the United Kingdom, announced today that it has started work on a project in concert with the National Drone Hub to establish what it refers to as a “unique” testing environment for uncrewed aerial systems. The National Drone Hub, for context, is the UK’s first Civilian Aviation Authority (CAA) accredited drone Test & Evaluation site and is operated by WholeShip in partnership with the Royal Navy at Predannack Airfield, Cornwall. The facility provides access to a 320-hectare site with four runways and over 8,000 square kilometres of segregated airspace off the Lizard Peninsula, and even prior to this announcement has supported testing and evaluation of drone technologies in a controlled environment.

With this foundation already build, the new collaboration announced today will expand testing capabilities, the two parties say, and the team is working to establish a Specific Operations Risk Assessment, better known as SORA, at Newquay. In their announcement, they share that the project is supported by funding from Cornwall Space Cluster, which could help provide access to segregated airspace off the north coast of Cornwall from Newquay to enable BVLOS drone test and evaluation, with the scale of the airspace enabling operations for larger uncrewed vehicles travelling at faster speeds. 

In a statement, Amy Smith, the managing director at Cornwall Airport Newquay, said, “This joint project combines the expertise of two pioneering aerospace teams in Cornwall delivering national firsts in space and future air systems."

Gail Eastaugh, head of strategic partnerships with Cornwall Space Cluster, added, “This collaboration offers an incredible opportunity for us to further cement Cornwall’s place at the forefront of UK space and aerospace operations, and Cornwall Space Cluster is proud to support this groundbreaking project.”

Source: Spaceport Cornwall