UAS Traffic Management (UTM) firm Unifly announced that its UTM platform has “enabled the delivery of real-time U-space services for medical drone delivery trials in Belgium, operated by Skyports Drone Services.”

In a press release, Unifly explained that it 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, the drones, which carried “time-sensitive medical cargo, including pathology samples and medication,” were flown remotely from the United Kingdom.

Unifly provided “the UTM platform used to deliver core U-space services, supporting safe and compliant airspace access in alignment with European U-space Regulation,” and the services were “delivered through SkeyDrone, Belgium’s designated U-space Service Provider (USSP).”

According to Unifly, its 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.

Unifly said that the effort “marks one of the first operational demonstrations of cross-border U-space implementation for emergency healthcare logistics in Europe.”

The initiative is supported by the BURDI (Belgium/Netherlands U-space Reference Design Implementation) project. Funded by the European Union and the SESAR Joint Undertaking, BURDI aims to “validate scalable, cross-border U-space architectures under real-world conditions” and support the “safe and sustainable integration of multiple drone operations, including BVLOS, within shared airspace alongside traditional manned aviation.”

Both Unifly and Skyports are partners in the BURDI project.

Source: Unifly