SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) 

The SESAR (Single European Sky Advanced Research) programme defines, develops and deploys technologies to transform air traffic management in Europe as part of the EU’s “Single European Sky” policy.

SESAR’s objectives are harmonised with other European initiatives aimed at sustainability and digitalisation. These include the European Green Deal, with the objective of climate neutrality by 2050, the European Smart Mobility Strategy and the Europe Fit for the Digital Age.

Following the conclusion of previous innovation programmes – SESAR 1 and SESAR 2020 – research activities are currently managed by SESAR 3 JU (Joint Undertaking), the new partnership between private and public launched in December 2021 by the European Commission and co-funded by the European Union, through the Horizon Europe R&D programme, and by industry.

Through the new agreement, and building on the achievements of SESAR 1 and SESAR 2020, SESAR programme seeks to accelerate the uptake of innovative solutions in aviation market. Its innovation pipeline, made up of exploratory research, industrial research and validation, fast-track and demonstrators, is geared to transform ideas into tangible solutions.

The SESAR 3 JU partnership, which brings together the EU, Eurocontrol, and more than 50 organisations, covers the entire aviation value chain, involving airports, airspace users of all categories, air navigation service providers, drone operators and service providers, the manufacturing industry and scientific community. It represents a catalyst for speeding up the transition towards a green, climate neutral and digital Europe, and for making European industry more resilient and competitive, by addressing the following research lines:

• Connected and automated ATM
• Air-ground integration
• Dynamic airspace
• U-space and urban air mobility
• Virtualisation and cyber-secure data sharing
• Multimodality and passenger experience
• Aviation green deal
• Artificial intelligence (AI) for aviation
• Civil/military interoperability and coordination
   

Leonardo in SESAR

Leonardo joined SESAR in 2007 and, within the programme, develops enabling technologies to realise new services and products for the future Air Traffic management, contributing to build up the “Single European Sky “.

The company has recently completed its activities in SESAR 2020, where it was involved with 13 projects in the Wave 2 (2020-2022) and Wave 3 (2021-2022), with the contribution of the Telespazio, Telespazio Vega, Leonardo Germany GmbH and e-GEOS subsidiaries, as “Linked Third Parties”.

In particular, Leonardo coordinated the following projects:

• PJ13-W2 ERICA, with the main objective to provide the basis for defining, developing and validating the key operational and technological enablers that are necessary to assure the proper insertion of RPAS into non-segregated airspace
• PJ14-W2 I-CNSS, with the objective to specify and develop the future technologies coming from the Communication, Navigation and Surveillance domains, in order to support and manage the operational services in the future ATM system, as the 4D Trajectory Management.

In the frame of SESAR 3 JU, the new programme launched on December 2021, Leonardo was awarded 12 projects,  covering main technological areas, such as:

• Integration of vertiports in the U-Space domain, paving the way to the “Innovative Air Mobility” (IAM) in urban and extra-urban environments

• Development of new concepts based on synchronisation of local, network and downlinked trajectories (Trajectory Based Operations), for a more connected and predictable ATM

• Full integration of ATM and U-space systems, by refining and completing the definition of the common ATM-U-space interface

• Development of the System Wide Information Management (SWIM) enabling the distribution of safety-critical information through a standardized European service infrastructure, supporting Ground/Ground and Air/Ground information sharing and advanced automation

• Support to the dynamic time and space segregation of airspace in the context of Civil/Military coordination and integrating HAO missions with traditional ATM

• Use of Artificial Intelligence to improve Separation Management and Monitoring Tools

• Contribute to the evolution of the Future Communication Infrastructure by the development of the new L-Band Air-Ground Datalink LDACS.

In detail, among the projects assigned, Leonardo coordinates FCDI (Future Connectivity and Digital Infrastructure) project, which aims to specify and develop the future technologies coming from the Communications domain, in order to support the Operational Services in the future Air Traffic Management System.