Photo: Cornwall Airport Newquay
As the UK’s first licensed spaceport, Spaceport Cornwall has begun working with the National Drone Hub to launch a pioneering UK autonomy project.
The National Drone Hub is the UK’s first Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) accredited drone test site. It features a 320-hectare site with four runways and over 8,000 square metres of segregated airspace off the Lizard Peninsula in southwest England. The facility already supports testing and evaluation of drone technologies in a controlled environment.
Now the two organisations will build on this foundation and extend testing capabilities at Spaceport Cornwall / Cornwall Airport Newquay. The two sites will create drone testing environments to develop and certify next-generation autonomous systems, from small-scale drones through to supersonic uncrewed vehicles.
Amy Smith, Managing Director at Cornwall Airport Newquay, said: “This joint project combines the expertise of two pioneering aerospace teams in Cornwall delivering national firsts in space and future air systems.”
The team is working to establish a Specific Risk Assessment (SORA), which is required for complex drone operations, at Newquay.
Photo: National Drone Hub
The project could provide access to segregated airspace off the north coast of Cornwall from Newquay to enable Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone test and evaluation. The aim is to enable the operations of larger, high-speed uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), including those travelling at supersonic speeds.
Gail Eastaugh, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Cornwall Space Cluster added that the collaboration offers an “incredible opportunity to further cement Cornwall’s place at the forefront of UK space and aerospace operations, and Cornwall Space Cluster is proud to support this groundbreaking project”.
