Over the coming months and years, the CAA is working to address the remaining regulatory challenges that will enable authorised operators to operate Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) in a scaled, sustainable way.
Safety is everyone’s priority. To achieve our goal, we must make sure other airspace users are sufficiently protected, and the risk to people and property on the ground is minimised.
Roadmap
We have now published our roadmap to how the UK reaches critical milestones for future BVLOS and establishing routine BVLOS operations by 2027.
Airspace for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Flying
Our Airspace Modernisation Strategy (AMS) presents the roadmap for the development and modernisation of UK airspace until 2040. One key element considered within the strategy is the way that Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) operating Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) will be integrated within the airspace system.
As part of the work to achieve this we have developed Policy concept: Airspace Requirements for the Integration of BVLOS Unmanned Aircraft, CAP2533 (Opens in a new tab). This policy concept provides an interim step for enabling the necessary test and development work. A policy concept allows us to develop, assess, validate and refine a policy idea before it becomes formalised.
The policy concept applies to UK airspace and high seas airspace which lies within the London and Scottish Flight Information Regions (FIR) and Upper Information Regions (UIR). RPAS using the concept must be operating in the specific or certified categories.
This airspace policy concept sets out the use of Temporary Reserved Areas (TRAs) of airspace, in conjunction with appropriate procedures and/or technology, to enable the managed integration of BVLOS RPAS flying with other airspace users.
The TRA is a defined volume of airspace that is temporarily reserved for a particular use which can be activated as and when required. It uses the classification of the airspace it is in but may also have additional requirements applied to enable the safe trialling or operation of aircraft within it. The TRA is managed by an air navigation service provider (ANSP) using an agreed ruleset when the TRA is active. It can also have a Transponder Mandatory Zone (TMZ) or Radio Mandatory Zone (RMZ) if required.
The establishment and dis-establishment of a danger area (DA), Temporary Segregated Area (TSA) and/or a TRA, and any associated airspace overlays (e.g. a TMZ), still requires an airspace change. Change sponsors must consider the guidance contained within Airspace Change Process, CAP1616.
To help develop and test the policy concept our Innovation Team will be running a sandbox trial (opens in a new tab) for organisations or consortia.
Future integration
In terms of determining a path through the accommodation phase towards integration, Detect and Avoid (DAA) systems (ground-based, air-based or a combination of both) are likely to be a critical enabling technology. At this stage, electronic conspicuity is considered very likely to be an essential enabler for DAA and is therefore likely to be essential for operations within TRAs that are established for the purpose of integrating BVLOS operations.
Once it can be demonstrated that the developments are sufficiently mature and there is data available to support safety arguments, that will start to signal the closure of the accommodation phase. We will then start to see RPAS integrated within standard classifications of UK airspace, permitting them to operate BVLOS without the need for additional requirements to be placed upon them to address their specific operating characteristics.