Month: December 2020

SAM IS ....
Global Drone Super-Highways a step closed as Octopus Ventures backs Altitude Angel

VC backs airspace management platform developer with £4m investment

 Altitude Angel, the world’s leading UTM (Unified Traffic Management) technology provider, today announced it raised a further £4m ($5.3m US) from one of Europe’s largest VC investors, Octopus Ventures.

The latest fundraising concludes Altitude Angel’s series A round, led by Octopus Ventures and existing investor Seraphim Capital. It also brings the total invested in Altitude Angel in 2020 to £7.05m ($9.4m)

UTM is the platform which will allow UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, sometimes called drones) and manned aircraft to operate harmoniously in shared skies. Through the widespread adoption of UTM platforms, governments and authorities will be able to begin building the super-highways of the future – networks of interlinking drone corridors which will revolutionise the transportation of goods; from medical supplies and fast-food deliveries to ‘Amazon-like’ parcel drop off and collections.

The investment will allow Altitude Angel to capitalise on its reputation as the world’s leader in developing and deploying local and national UTM platforms, allowing it to further expand its international presence and in doing so, accelerate the safe and secure use of drones in skies across the globe. Following the opening of its Dutch HQ in September, the company will be opening offices local to its international partners in addition to increasing its presence in markets promoting UTM growth through H1 2021.

Octopus Ventures’ Zoë Chambers will join the Altitude Angel board, which is chaired by former Microsoft executive Pieter Knook.

Zoë Chambers, deep tech investor at Octopus Ventures, said: “We’ve been talking about the potential of drones to radically transform all sorts of industries for a long time now, as the number of applications is huge, but for it to be viable, we need a system that can manage drones and, eventually, other types of unmanned air traffic at scale.

“Altitude Angel’s technology solves this problem and allows highly automated drones to be safely integrated within a nation’s airspace and, in doing so, allow drones to be used to survey infrastructure, deliver small parcels, or even deliver important medical supplies, such as donor organs, without disturbing normal air traffic.

“The market opportunity is enormous, and we firmly believe Altitude Angel’s UTM platform will become the blueprint for drone integration and the infrastructure layer for an unmanned air traffic networkacross the globe. Richard and his team have already made meaningful progress towards this goal and we’re excited to get to work to help realise their vision.”

Richard Parker, Altitude Angel, founder and CEO added: “Altitude Angel has consistently broken new ground in the development and deployment of Unified Traffic Management technology, pioneering the integration of UTM within existing ATM (Air Traffic Management) systems and networks. Our partnership with Octopus Ventures and the investment they have made in our business will allow us to significantly build on the foundations we’ve spent the past years laying. 

“The substantial investments made in our company throughout 2020 – during a time of immense globally instability – demonstrate the solid basis for the business we’re building and means we can focus more on accelerating our growth and expansion plans, strengthening our existing solution portfolio and continue to deliver on our vision for the future of automated transport. As countries around the world rebuild from the impact of COVID, we’re going to help them build-back bigger, stronger and, most importantly: equipped to deal with tomorrow’s skies.”

This latest investment follows Altitude Angel’s announcement in September it would be opening the world’s first commercial drone super-highway in open and unrestricted airspace in the Thames Valley, to the west of London, in 2021. The corridor uses Altitude Angel’s “Arrow” technology.

Operated and managed by Altitude Angel, the site will be available to support fully automated drone flights beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) from any drone company which completes a series of basic technical integrations which, crucially, don’t require specialist hardware on-board the drone.

Altitude Angel was founded in 2014 by Richard Parker and has quickly become the world’s leading UTM technology company. Its solutions are deployed by air navigation service providers (ANSPs) around the globe, including the Netherlands’ LVNL, Norway’s Avinor and the UK’s NATS, with further significant rollouts planned in 2021. Its market leading data is also used by drone manufactures, including the world’s largest, DJI, flight planning platforms and enterprise businesses. 

SAM IS ....
CAA UAS CAPs list ahead of 31 December 2020

Check out this link to a list of several unmanned aircraft CAPS ahead of the new UAS regulation applicability on 31 Dec.

Of particular note are new CAPS 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2012. These are easy access factsheets to cover common types of operations.

You can find links to these on the updated UAS website too, as well as other latest news at caa.co.uk

SAM IS ....
Dronamics signs agreements to set up European Hubs

Drone developer Dronamics has reached signed up 35 airports across Europe to serve as cargo hubs, following the unveiling of new EU regulations for drone operations.

So far, five of the airports have been announced, Liege, Brescia, Osijek, Seinajoki and Skovde, and in an interview with The Loadstar, Dronamics co-founder and chief executive Svilen Rangelov said the rest would be revealed in the coming months.

“Our objective is to have a drone port in every city and town, but these do not necessarily need to be at all the biggest gateways,” said Mr Rangelov.

“It is the unserved demand that is more interesting to us, that [cargo] going by road we think would be better served by our drones. Take Bulgaria, it has a population of 7m but only one airport handling cargo, which means it has to be trucked there, which is very inefficient.

“So, we want to be at airports close to high population centres but [which are] lacking any sort of air freight service.”

The news of Dronamics’ new airport hubs comes a little over a fortnight from EU legislators unveiling new drone regulations that will come into effect on 1 January, following a delay caused by the global pandemic.

Under the new rules, some of which still need to be ironed out, operators will need to apply to the directorate general of aviation for a permit.

At present, Dronamics has yet to finalise its first full-scale drone, but Mr Rangelov said the company had almost finished a prototype and was confident B2B operations would start in the first quarter of 2022.

“Test flights will begin in Q1 21 and we will have permits by the end of the year so that we can begin flying in 2022,” he added.

Although more expensive than road, the company is anticipating drones will be substantially faster and yet 80% cheaper to use than standard airfreight, charging “less than €5 per kg” for same-day delivery.

Its Black Swan drone (pictured above) can cover 2,500km carrying loads of up to 350kg, which Mr Rangelov believes makes it “very attractive” to e-commerce businesses.

“For e-tailers, the ability to expand into new markets while also providing same-day services is reliant on building fulfilment centres in those new markets, which is both incredibly costly and time-consuming to achieve,” Mr Rangelov added. “Because of the distance our drone can fly, we can achieve that same-day delivery without the need for this large investment.

“We are now holding discussions with several e-commerce companies attracted by these qualities and seeing our offering as a very fulfilling proposition.”

Amazon and UPS have also made no secret of their desire to enter the drone market, having released film several years ago of staged deliveries. However, little has since been seen of any drone fleets, with Amazon laying off a number of staff from its drone division and reportedly turning to outside help to get its project off the ground.

A UPS spokesperson claimed its drones were already conducting daily, paid commercial deliveries for several US customers, adding: “We’re seeing continued progress around the world from a regulatory standpoint, and technologies continue to evolve and improve, especially with respect to sense-and-avoid and fleet management systems.”

By Alex Whiteman for The Loadstar

07/12/2020

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Montrose Drone Port given the go ahead as part of Tay Cities Deal

The Tay Cities deal is for £700million in the Tay Cities Region.  This will be transformative for the region, driving investment, boosting the economy and creating more than 6,000 jobs.

Included in the Deal is the go ahead for the Montrose Drone Port.

With the global drone industry set to expand over the next five years, the 6-month temporary airspace project aims to establish an area of offshore trial airspace and give local businesses the chance to get involved by providing viable cases to use drones while developing a track record of safe operations.

Economic Development Spokesperson, Cllr Braden Davy said: “Establishing a world class drone industry could potentially attract business visitors and spend to Angus. Delivery drones are a fast and reliable solution for many supplies and this trial in Montrose lays foundations from which to potentially grow a permanent drone operation across Angus – one of the future growth industries.

“People often only hear of the negative experiences of drones but like any other device, they need to be used responsibly and are subject to specific safety rules relating to the way they are operated, underpinned by UK law.

“This is why the council and Drone Technologies Ltd are keen to reassure local residents of the safety record and give them the opportunity to raise any concerns and have them answered through a series of online presentations to be held.”

The project is one of our Mercury Programme investments to increase productivity through clean growth, protecting places for future generations to live, work and visit. 

Montrose Drone Port:

The project aims to place Angus at the centre of the industry by developing a Centre of Excellence for drone technologies in Montrose. Planning is underway with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for a 6-month temporary airspace encompassing the vessel anchorages and extending out to the large windfarm developments which are under construction off the Angus coast.

ercury Drone Port would be Scotland’s first drone port and the UK’s first drone port that focuses primarily on the application and testing of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) technology for offshore, marine, agriculture, and rural applications.

Initially, drones are likely to be used for low risk, offshore purposes including offshore inspection and deliveries to vessels at anchor (1-5km offshore), offshore wind farms (30-80km offshore), and oil and gas platforms (100-200km offshore).

These will be designed primarily to facilitate the development of operating UAS Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) and autonomously in unsegregated airspace.

Airspace will be trialled from zero to twelve kilometres from shore, with segregated drone corridors to wind farms and oil and gas platforms.

The 6-month temporary airspace trial will allow the opportunity to demonstrate safe operations and the demand for investment in these facilities. The long term ambition is to create a permanent airspace alongside associated land based facilities.

This is a Joint Venture between Angus Council and Drone Technologies Ltd.

18th December 2020

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Pop-Up UTM successfully demonstrated by Altitude Angel, Inmarsat and A-Techsyn

Test flights using drones flying Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) confirm ground-breaking capabilities of unmanned traffic management platform

London, UK; Altitude Angel, the world’s leading Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) technology provider, Inmarsat, the world leader in global mobile satellite communications, and A-techSYN, a foremost manufacturer of next generation Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), today announced the successful conclusion of drone test flights using their jointly developed Pop-Up UTM platform.

The Pop-Up UTM platform delivers advanced Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flight tracking for UAVs. It enables drones to be safely integrated into controlled airspace and ensures they are visible to – and can be kept distant from – other air traffic.

During October and November 2020, an A-TechSYN CGT50 VTOL UAV – using the compact Cobham AVIATOR 200 satcom solution integrated with UAV Navigation’s POLAR Attitude & Heading Reference System (AHRS) – flew numerous BVLOS flights, connected and tracked using Inmarsat’s global L-band satellite network. The fully autonomous flights were initiated and monitored by a pilot 60km from the take-off and landing area near Ankara, Turkey, and were tracked, monitored and managed using the Pop-Up UTM platform by a team at Altitude Angel’s HQ in Reading, United Kingdom.

The test flights produced excellent results, with the UTM platform offering full situational awareness to the operator team. During the tests, the system detected a possible conflict with a commercial aircraft. As designed, the Pop-Up UTM correctly triggered a warning to de-conflict the two aircraft, allowing appropriate avoidance action to be taken.

Phil Binks, Altitude Angel’s Head of Air Traffic Management, said: “Our partnership with Inmarsat in the development of Pop-Up UTM has, in a little under six months, engineered a platform which has the power to save lives and revolutionise the way operators deploy UAV services. As an example, emergency services and first responders would be able to use drones alongside manned aircraft in the most challenging of scenarios. The trial flights not only established how Pop-Up UTM could be quickly deployed, but the unexpected arrival of a GA aircraft and its triggering of the de-confliction software demonstrated how the platform will perform in a real-world environment.”

All flights were conducted under full satcom command and control, with FPV (Forward Position Video) feed, utilising Inmarsat’s SB-S platform. Successful handovers occurred between satcom and radio frequency control, demonstrating that Inmarsat can deliver advanced BVLOS operations for UAVs.

Anthony Spouncer, Inmarsat Aviation’s Senior Director of UAVs & UTM, added: “With our global satellite network, and more than 30 years of experience in communications, navigation and surveillance services, Inmarsat is uniquely placed to be the catalyst for growth of the commercial UAV market and bring powerful benefits to business and society as a result. With flight tests now complete, we are excited to offer new UTM services in 2021 and beyond that will help businesses unlock the limitless possibilities of commercial drone operations.”

The drone test flights provided a real-world demonstration of how Pop-Up UTM can be used to allow manned and unmanned aircraft to operate in close proximity, safely and securely. With BVLOS operations now a reality, a single pilot can operate a UAV remotely and beyond the horizon, boosting the commercial viability of unmanned aerial operations.

Gokhan Celik, A-techSYN’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “With this demonstration, we have successfully overcome a significant challenge facing the aviation industry – safely integrating UAVs into civil airspace. UAVs weighing more than 50kg, such as A-TechSYN’s CGT50 VTOL, are fast becoming the gold standard in unmanned operations, including search and rescue, pipeline/powerline inspections, and long distance medical delivery. Drones can now evolve from passive broadcasting to active communication with the UTM in real time, mirroring manned aviation processes. We are very happy with the results of the Pop-Up UTM and have decided to make Inmarsat satcom connectivity and UTM integration standard on all our CGT50 VTOL units.”

16th December 2020

SAM IS ....
Royal Mail Partners with Consortium to become First UK Parcel Carrier to use a drone to deliver a parcel
  • Royal Mail has partnered with ARPAS-UK Members DronePrep, Skyports, and what3words to become the first nationwide UK parcel carrier to deliver a parcel for recipients via an unmanned aerial vehicle.
  • The first delivery took place to a remote lighthouse on the Isle of Mull.
  • Next year the consortium will undertake a consultation with islanders on the use of drones to deliver to rural communities on the Isle of Mull – the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides.
  • This will help to identify opportunities to support postmen and postwomen in delivering to very remote areas and addresses in the UK.

Royal Mail has joined forces with a consortium of established UK drone companies – including DronePrep and Skyports – and addressing technology what3words, to become the first UK parcel carrier to transport a parcel for recipients via an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). In a UK first, the consortium arranged an initial drone delivery to a remote lighthouse* on the Isle of Mull this month.

This is the first step in a groundbreaking consultation programme and trial in the New Year, which will focus on engaging with the community to explore the viability of using drones to deliver to rural communities on the Isle of Mull, where Skyports is already using its drones to help NHS Scotland with the response to COVID-19. This will help to identify opportunities to support postmen and postwomen in delivering to very remote areas and addresses in the UK.

As with all Royal Mail deliveries across the UK, the postcode will route the parcel towards its destination. The local postie will then use drone delivery to reach the most remote locations in their patch faster. For the drone delivery, residents consulted on the Isle of Mull will be invited to use the DronePrep platform to assess the viability of their property for drone delivery and pinpoint a suitable landing location within their ownership using the what3words integration.

To enable this for the trial, Royal Mail is asking recipients to provide the what3words address, a 3 metre by 3 metre square, that corresponds to the precise landing point for delivery of Royal Mail parcels via the drone from the Royal Mail van.

Tom Nunn, local postman for Isle of Mull, said: “I am very pleased to be involved in this fantastic trial. It is an exciting opportunity to test out new ways of working to support us posties that deliver in some of the most remote areas of the UK. Some of the houses on the Isle of Mull include a thirty-minute walk to the front door so the use of drones will be a huge help!”

Nick Landon, Chief Commercial Officer at Royal Mail, said: “Delivering the first live parcel in the UK by an unmanned drone was a landmark day for us. We are incredibly proud to be working with DronePrep, Skyports and what3words to trial new ways to support the more remote and isolated communities we serve. This is part of our constant drive to incorporate the best innovative technologies into our network. We’ve seen a huge increase in parcel volumes this year and this is just one of the ways we are looking at to support our frontline delivery staff and deliver fast, convenient and green services for all of our customers.”

Gareth Whatmore, CEO of DronePrep & Consortia Lead, said: “In the last couple of years, drone technology has matured and with it the industry’s ability to solve real world challenges. Our collaboration with our superb partners Royal Mail, Skyports, what3words and the residents of the Isle of Mull is a huge opportunity for us all to learn more about how drones can complement and supplement existing Royal Mail delivery services. We are both delighted and proud to lead on this innovative collaborative project and for the DronePrep platform to help in determining future UAV flight and delivery opportunity for Royal Mail and the local community.”

Chris Sheldrick, co-founder of what3words added: “By labelling every 3m square in the UK with three words – a what3words address – recipients are very easily able to communicate their desired drone delivery location. Our technology perfectly complements traditional addresses, but by adding a layer of accuracy when needed. 2020 has demonstrated the need for fast, reliable deliveries and what3words is a perfect tool to assist Royal Mail on their mission to continue to innovate.”

Duncan Walker, Chief Executive of Skyports, said: “We are delighted to contribute our experience of flying delivery drones for the NHS around the Isle of Mull to this exciting project.  Delivery drones are already proven as a fast and reliable solution for transporting packages to poorly connected rural communities.  This trial with Royal Mail, what3words and DronePrep has the potential to lay the foundations for a future service to complement the one provided by Royal Mail’s hard-working posties that we rely on today.”

16th December 2020

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BT & Altitude Angel lead consortium to deliver ‘Future Flight’ Drones Project to revolutionise airspace


London, UK:  BT took a significant leap into the commercial drones market today, as the company announced, alongside Altitude Angel, the formation of a new consortium to deliver a series of industry use cases across the UK’s first commercial drone corridor.

BT,  together with Altitude Angel and a number of UK tech start-ups, have been selected by UK Research and Innovation to deliver “Project XCelerate” – a key Future Flight Challenge project which will establish the UK’s first commercial drone corridor in open and unrestricted airspace, located south of Reading, Berkshire.

In summer 2021, the project will conduct flight trials along the 8km-long corridor to demonstrate how drones can operate safely in the same airspace as manned aviation. The consortium will demonstrate key industry use cases across healthcare, emergency services and infrastructure to illustrate how drone deliveries and inspection can bring countless benefits to businesses, the public sector and UK citizens. 

Gerry McQuade, CEO of BT’s Enterprise unit, said: “As drone numbers continue to rise, there is an urgent need to safely integrate commercial drones into global airspace alongside manned aviation. In showing how drones can deliver improved, potentially life-saving services to the public, we’re aiming to accelerate the adoption of fully automated drones in unrestricted UK airspace in a safe and responsible way.”

“From improved mobility, connectivity, healthcare and manufacturing output, to reduced road congestion and pollution, automated drone technology will transform the quality of our lives. BT’s role in the consortium is to bring world-leading drone expertise together and to provide the secure and resilient mobile network connectivity, as well as our drone detection services. The power of EE’s 4G and 5G networks will ensure commercial drones remain connected for greater situational awareness, accurate positioning and to avoid collisions – ensuring that they can be operated safely and responsibly across UK skies.”

Richard Parker, Altitude Angel, CEO and founder said: “Project XCelerate is bringing together experts and world leaders in their respective fields, something we’re very proud and excited to be a part of. Our Arrow technology is truly ground-breaking and the key enabler to the project and we’re pleased to be deploying it for maximum benefit in the UK first.”

Joining BT and Altitude Angel as part of the consortium are: drone technology experts from Dronecloud, HeroTech8 and Skyports, cyber security provider Angoka, and end user experts SkyBound Rescuer and DroneStream.

The key use cases which will be explored by the consortium include using drones to assist the emergency services, for example during road traffic collisions and search and rescue missions. Using 3D mapping techniques, drones can be used for forensics purposes to aid the police when responding to road traffic collisions and can also help to locate missing persons during search and rescue missions. Project XCelerate will prove how drone technology can be used to speed up response times for such incidents, helping the emergency services to improve the chances of survival, whilst also reducing costs.

The project will also demonstrate how automated drones can reduce the lead times for urgently needed medical deliveries, helping the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors to improve standards of patient care. A further use case is key infrastructure inspection, where drones can be used to help assess damage or maintenance required for critical national infrastructure for the utilities, telecoms and transport sectors.

BT’s strengths in reliable, secure, high bandwidth, low-latency radio and fixed connectivity mean it is ideally placed to lead the consortium. Its EE mobile network – the biggest and fastest in the UK, and the trusted provider behind the critical Emergency Services Network (ESN) – will ensure that a safe commercial drone corridor can be established with optimal mobile coverage at altitude. BT will provide the critical communications required for BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) environments such as GPS location and remote identification, command and control, redundant geo-awareness, and live notifications (NOTAMs) sent directly to drones in-flight.

BT will combine its experience with Altitude Angel’s leading experience in Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) platforms, together with its operation of the Arrow Drone Zone commercial drone corridor. UTM is a key enabler to address the safe and efficient integration of unmanned vehicles into airspace. Project XCelerate will combine a network of existing and new technologies underpinned by Altitude Angel’s proven UTM platform, incorporating existing air traffic management and communications systems and augmented by new technology, such as 5G.

Project XCelerate aims to widen the use of UTM systems by providing a framework which towns, cities, organisations and networks can follow in order to ‘open up’ portions of the sky. The project consortium is powerfully placed to realise the world’s first live commercial automated BVLOS flight zone in which any compatible vehicle can connect into and fly within safely.

For further information

15th December 2020

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Landmark New Drone Accreditation: First UAS Operations Gold Certification Granted in the UK

[LONDON, UK] IQ Verify are delighted to announce that Crowded Space Drones are the first to be granted the new IQ Verify UAS Operations Gold certification in alignment with the requirements of BS ISO 21384‑3:2019, the International Standard for UAS (Drone) Operations.

BS ISO 21384‑3:2019 outlines the requirements for unmanned aircraft (UA) operational procedures which, when applied together with any other current and future standard, forms a robust UA safety and quality standard. It applies to all commercial UAS operations regardless of size, categorization, application or location and represents the international best practice for the safe operation of all types of use and missions.

Owing to the breadth of consideration within any UAS operation, these requirements fall within a number of key areas including; Safety and Security, Data Protection and Cyber Security, Operator Documentation and Insurance, Operations (from planning to operation and journey logs), Maintenance and Privacy.

Through a comprehensive audit process which includes the review of previous deployments and a live flight assessment, UAS organisations now have the opportunity to be independently verified against the highest industry standards. It is perhaps for this reason that two major insurers within the sector, Coverdrone and Moonrock, have already confirmed that they will offer discounts to those organisations certificated by IQ Verify to UAS Operations Gold.

Laurie Clarke, Director of IQ Verify, explained more about UAS Operations Gold: “As an independent and international Certification Body, IQ Verify is extremely proud to be able to offer this route of recognised certification to UAS organisations looking to meet the latest operational standards. In any industry, particularly one expanding as rapidly as drones, the opportunity to showcase organisational compliance above and beyond the competition is extremely valuable- both at an operational and commercial level.

Having received a number of applications from interested parties already, it is exciting to see that the industry is responding so positively to this unique opportunity for formal certification. We congratulate Crowded Space Drones on their benchmark achievement as the very first organisation to have been independently verified and certificated against the requirements of BS ISO 21384‑3:2019.”

Andrew McQuillan of Crowded Space Drones explained why the drone industry needs independent certification: “As soon as ISO 21384-3 was published, we looked to obtain certification as we know that in other sectors certification of compliance to International Standards is crucial to demonstrating quality and winning competitive tenders and quotes with clients. This scheme from IQ Verify comprehensively audited our entire operations and has given our clients additional confidence that they are utilising the leading drone services company in the United Kingdom.

Having recently been certificated by IQ Verify to the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, it was encouraging to see the alignment between this standard and the privacy etiquette requirements of BS ISO 21384‑3:2019, creating an eco-system of complementary accreditations & certifications which customers can rely on as the first independent quality standards for the industry.”

www.crowdedspacedrones.com

10th December 2020

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Drones with spotlights used to catch poachers in rural Dorset

Rural crime officers are using drones in their fight against poaching. Picture: Dorset Police Rural CrimeTeam 2 comments

DRONES with powerful spotlights are being used in the fight against poaching in rural Dorset.

Officers are carrying out extra patrols as part of the national Operation Galileo.

On Sunday police from the Dorset Police Rural Crime Team, Drones Team and neighbourhood officers joined forces for enhanced patrols across rural parts of the county.

A spokesman said: “Poaching is not just a serious issue for our wildlife, but also has a devastating impact on our farming community. Farmers are being threatened and finding gates and crops damaged, costing significant amounts of money every time.

“Officers also conducted regular proactive stops on vehicles with potential to carry stolen farm machinery and livestock in a bid to deter and detect rural crime. Please remember if you are transporting livestock to have all relevant paperwork with you as we will be checking to make sure the livestock has not been stolen.”

Technology including drones and thermal imaging are being widely used to identify suspicious activity.

The spokesman added: “Imagine suddenly having that spotlight catch you doing something you shouldn’t.”

From The Daily Echo

7th December 2020

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Altitude Angel Shortlisted for Two ATM Magazine Awards

London, UK. ATM Magazine today announced Altitude Angel, the world’s leading UTM (Unmanned Traffic Management) technology provider, has been shortlisted in two of its 2020 ATM Awards categories.

With partner Inmarsat, Altitude Angel has been shortlisted in the UTM Service Supplier Projects, which recognises pioneering technologies and procedures in UTM safety and complex operations, for its Pop Up UTM programme.

And in the ATM/UTM Integration category, which recognises outstanding efforts in integrating UTM into ATM operations, Altitude Angel and partner LVNL have been shortlisted for the launch and successful introduction of the GoDrone app.

In addition, Altitude Angel have also been recognised in a third nomination. As a partner of Frequentis, Altitude Angel have been integral to Avinor’s roll-out of UTM across Norway, with the project also being shortlisted in the ATM/UTM Integration category.

Of Altitude Angel being shortlisted, Richard Parker, Altitude Angel CEO and founder, said: “Firstly, I would like to congratulate our fellow nominees on being shortlisted. 2020 has been a challenging time for everyone within the ATM and UTM industries. But we’ve achieved a great deal over the past 12 months, from our work for the African Drone Forum and Lake Kivu challenge, launching GoDrone with LVNL, developing a potentially lifesaving platform with Inmarsat in Pop-Up UTM, as well as being an integral part of the team delivering Norway, through Avinor, a nationwide UTM platform.

“Being shortlisted for two awards and a partner in a third is testament not only to the hard work and dedication the Altitude Angel team have put in through 2020, but to the strong relationships and deep level of understanding we have with our partners across the industry. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved this year and we’re looking forward to the opportunities the new year will bring.”

The winners were originally scheduled to be announced at the World ATM Congress, but when the Congress was rescheduled from March 2021 to October, ATM Magazine made the bold decision to proceed with the awards independently.  The winners will now be announced at a virtual ceremony in the new year [date TBC].

7th December 2020