Altitude Angel selected by UK’s Civil Aviation Authority as an Innovation Partner
Today, we’re announcing that we’re one of just six companies that the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority has selected to join its “Innovation Sandbox”, a ‘virtual space in which new technology can be safely tested’.
The Sandbox extends to Altitude Angel the ability to continue to establish groundbreaking new trials and test emerging concepts, building on the success of last year’s Operation Zenith drone integration trial at Manchester Airport.
Altitude Angel is in great company. Five other firms have also been invited to join The Sandbox:
- Amazon – a future delivery system from Amazon designed to safely get packages to customers in 30 minutes or less using unmanned aerial vehicles.
- NATS and Searidge Technologies – air traffic control body NATS and its digital tower partner, Searidge Technologies, are working to implement new technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital air traffic control towers.
- NBEC Consortium* – Cranfield University and its partners, Blue Bear Systems Research, Thales and Vodafone are creating an experimentation corridor that will enable drones and unmanned aircraft fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) by having their locations tracked and thus safely fly in the same airspace as manned aircraft.
- Nesta Challenges – the Flying High Challenge, part of Nesta Challenges, is a collaborative engagement with cities, technologists, researchers, regulators, government, public services and the public to shape the future of urban drone use in the UK.
- Volocopter – a company developing electrically powered urban air taxis (#eVTOLs) – based on drone technology – to help modern cities solve their increasing mobility issues.
In joining The Sandbox, we will continue our work to safely enable the integration of drones into the UK’s skies so that businesses can fully realise the potential offered by automated flight, and social causes and humanitarian uses of drones can fully take flight.
We look forward to working with the Civil Aviation Authority on it’s ‘innovation journey’ and will make further announcements later this year.
