Airspace had been used up until recently exclusively by manned aircraft for persons and cargo, which is mostly weighty, voluminous and expensive, where the main difficulty with regard to security and order revolves around the orderly management of traffic in landing and taking off areas, as a considerable number of outbound and inbound aircraft converge in reduced spaces simultaneously.
However, the technological development of drones and other unmanned artefacts, together with their decreasing cost, has increased the number of aircraft in flight, not purely for recreational purposes, but also for commercial purposes, such as reconnaissance, surveying, surveillance and event broadcasting flights. Furthermore, recently, these aircraft are allowed to be operated as a means of transport for light merchandise. The commercial possibilities for this type of flight are as many as they are imaginable, however given that they are carried out with aircraft of considerable weight and speed operating beyond visual range, their massive use will unavoidably cause obvious conflicts and risks. For these reasons, the deployment of these activities must take place in an orderly and secure manner, with a specific regulation of airspace for such aircraft and services.
As a complement to EU Regulation 2018/1139 and in particular EU Delegated Regulation 2019/945 as well as EU Implementing Regulation 2019/947 which established the first detailed framework on the harmonised operation of unmanned aircraft systems, the EU passed EU Implementing Regulation 2021/664 and EU Implementing Regulation 2021/665 on 22nd April 2021, with the aim of establishing a regulation of the airspace in which the commercial activity of unmanned aircraft may develop (called “U-Space”), although it will not affect the activity of model airplanes or aircraft with a weight less than 250 grammes and a speed lower than 19m/s.
In accordance, with the provisions of Regulation 2021/664, each State shall establish an “U-Space” airspace in its territory, that is to say, the only space in which it is permitted to carry out the operation of unmanned aircraft (“UAS”) with the support of U-Space services, especially designed for this; this space must be coordinated with those of other Member States when cross-border airspace is established. The providers of services in the U-Space must be submitted to the national legislation while the Regulation establishes a common system of certification for certifying them and allowing their activity.
In summary, the Regulation 2021/664 establishes regulations and procedures for the security of the operations of the UAS in the U-Space, which shall be applicable in geographical areas defined as U-Space by each Member State, for the following persons:
a) UAS operators;
b) Providers of U-Space services;
c) Providers of common information services.
On the other hand, all operation of UAS shall be subject to a minimum number of obligatory U-Space services which will be rendered by the aforementioned service providers:
(i) Network identification in order to receive messages, relative at least to the registration number of the UAS operator, the serial number of the aircraft, its geographical position, its route and the time of the generation of the messages.
(ii) Geo-awareness service, that is to say, operational conditions and limitations of space, such as temporary restrictions on the use of certain areas of the U-Space.
(iii) Flight authorisation service.
(iv) Traffic information service.
Likewise, for the rendering of these services two further services must concur: meteorological information and supervision of the operator’s compliance.
For this point, it is indicated that the Member States may designate exclusively just one service provider for common information services for the totality or just a part of the airspace of U-Space.
A UAS operator may also be, at the same time, a service provider to itself, but in any case the requirements provided for in EU Regulation 2019/947 must be fulfilled, including the operational authorisation or a certificate with equivalent effect issued by the competent authority of the Member State where the operator has its main operation centre. For operational purposes, the operator, must present an authorisation to its U-Space service provider before each flight.
The legal framework of the U-Space airspace implies the opening of the airspace on an large scale and offers a multitude of possible commercial applications to entrepreneurs who have the ideas, the technology and the resources to compete in a new market based upon said space, just like when conventional air traffic manned by persons came about, only now the technology and costs of operating in this new market are relatively accessible, allowing for the opening of the spectrum to a wide and diverse number of competing initiatives and entrepreneurs. At the same time, this new basic activity shall generate a constellation of derivative and intertwined services out of necessity, from the control of the UAS by satellite to the on-the-ground logistic management of airborne products, starting from the creation of landing and maintenance centres, which in turn, will modify the paradigms of the commercialisation of consumer goods and the rendering of determined services.
The date of entering into force of Regulation 2021/664 is 26th January 2023.
Eduardo Vilá
Vilá Abogados
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17th December 2021
